During the days of peeling back the clear film to stick your favorite photos to pages of adhesive held together like the 3 ring binder you used for Algebra, the world was not filled with photographers bidding for exposure on social media and fine tuning their photo exposures in Lightroom. Especially not in my world. On the corner of Avenue G and 6th street of the coastal town I was raised in stood a brick storefront with large windows that peered into "Photography by Norma". She showcased large prints that featured her latest offerings for children's sessions complete with props along with the latest bride of the county. Everybody and their mother had their photos taken by Norma Ramsey. My mother's senior photo is on the left, my baby photo in the middle and one of my senior photos on the right...you guessed it...all by Norma. When all I had at home was rolls of 35mm film and a shoebox full of 4x6 bad lighting, I posed in front of her large umbrella flashes and thought, "wouldn't it be great to do what she does one day?!"
Turn a few pages in the 'ol family scrapbook (volume 15 at my house currently) and you find me making my own watermark on the world, or at least trying to. As a single mom with toddlers (circa 2009), I saved for months to buy my first decent camera and then worked my way up over the years to having the equipment I need to produce the best work I can for my clients. Hundreds of hours have been spent self-teaching and applying techniques from master photographers that offered specials on their webinars. Countless sessions were shot for free before I had the experience and reputation to be able to make this goal into a professional business. I am so thankful to have these images of my mom and my childhood and have an even greater respect for Norma's work than before.
