Southern California
Couples + Lifestyle Photographer—
Captivating your genuine moments + Intimate details.
Your photographer,
P A I G E —
I'm your photographer, Paige - a small town girl with a major soft spot for captivating genuine moments and the raw + real of life.
Two years ago I picked back up a camera and decided to really take time to play around and build my knowledge of what I was actually using and holding in my hands. Throughout this time I’ve learned so much about moments and just how important freezing them truly can be. For some, my job is about is about taking the first photo of the many milestones your baby will reach— for others its a fun date night documented in high resolution. It’s being there to document you bringing home your newborn for the first time. It’s kids reuniting with their parents coming back from a deployment or the family who wants more than just the memory of watching the sunset at the beach before sending your oldest off to college in a different state. It’s documenting your successes and all the mundane moments in between. It’s empowering the postpartum mama through a self love portrait session and being there to help a new small business owner launch the start of their company with branding images. It’s everything that i love and then some & between owning this business + staying at home everyday being a mother to my babies and a wife to my husband I am abundantly blessed.
When you book a session with me just know that l'Il likely show up looking like my kids have played on me like a jungle gym all day, possibly with them tagging alongside me, with an iced coffee or Dr. Pepper in my hand. When you book with me, I'll show up with actual snacks…not just my cornbread accent and the endless dad jokes l've accumulated from my crayon eating, marine corps lovin' husband. You’ll likely see my family alongside me for adventurous sessions or those which offer a larger range of space for my kiddos to roam (like the beach… one of our favorite places to go watch the sunset!). My husband being Military… he’s may be away working so there may be times that my children are quite literally strapped to me during your session… most other times they will be chillin’ with dad at home.
Accumulating knowledge from various mentorships, guided sessions, and shadowing some of the most talented photographers (in my opinion), late nights of online research to boost my expertise and maintaining learned experiences by traveling across the country to fulfill your photography dreams. It’s my goal to make sure I’m creating fun sessions that not only match my client’s personality but are packed full of laughs and genuine emotions frozen in a single frame. This job is so much more than just a “click of a button” and if the bills paid theirselves I’d do it for free because I love it that much… let me document your happening moments through my photos and tell the story that words can not.
Not a “say cheese” photographer—
Homestead Studio
Not because it's at my home, and not because l'm claiming to be a "homesteader" or anything of the sorts. The meaning behind the name comes from the many homesteads my studio has been made possible from. The many pieces turned into props from your relatives passed along over time, lost and been found again — pieces from places all over:
“Meemaws goodies” off of hwy 64 headed towards Raleigh, “Antiques & geeks” in downtown Asheboro, so many copious amounts of goodwills all throughout the state of NC, Dorcas Ministries, Habitat for humanity… the list is endless.
Truly built from a homestead… or quite a few! Turning me into a true “work from home mama” & making my wildest dreams come true!! My studio is not something i will allow myself to charge people to use. I am firm in my belief that since my studio was built off of my creativity and way to find a creative "outlet" for myself during a really hard year— i will use it in ways to speak to others. Through art. Through creating friendships + building relationships within my community.
My studio is a space for me to remain a creative thinker for F R E E (it's also part of my home— so really it's just a big ol' prop charcuterie board that looks clean + organized on days that you request to come over and make some art!
In 2022 i had a wild hair to start actively thrifting, which led me to scoring HUGE at some of the local Thrift stores in my hometown. Goodwill employees knew me by name welcoming me through the doors with "there she is!" Or "hey mama" because i always had my babies along to help me snag the best finds. True southern hospitality, one thing I'll always love about back home. Another thing I'll always love is the fact that I probably have your great gran's something-a-nother being used for photography sessions almost daily! You see, nothing inside the studio has been purchased brand new aside from a few odd + end pieces. All of my props are well loved, authentically aged, true vintage finds. From the baskets hanging on the wall, to the sheets i use to cover the ground, all the way to the chairs you pose in/on and around ...oh the chairs... every single chair. My husband was sick of the amount of thrifted chairs we had flooding our very small apartment.
After acquiring all of these treasures I could use in my business in any setting; whether it be in a studio i rented out from someone else or outside in my natural environment outdoors. We quickly started to run out of space, and with each trip i began to bring home less and less from the thrift stores because "we're not gonna have enough room in the packrat" - words my husband spoke religiously those last few months before we arrived here at our current duty station...
it wasn't until all of the pieces piling up together in my living room started to really turn creative gears leading me to opening my own studio... sounds crazy, i know.
The studio gets put together special each time just for you and your requests.
My studio, for the most part, stays well organized due to the fact i have raging OCD, and not just the stereotypical type—Jesus really said “nah you get the real deal baby”. While you see me in there often recording content or creating my stock images for advertising purposes— i still like to shoot majority of my sessions outdoors in the lighting of gorgeous golden hours! I encourage you to ask about any props you see inside my studio space, I am so more than happy to bring them along for our session. All props / sets up in the studio are able to be incorporated into an outdoor setting. Being in base housing i am not able to charge anything at all for the use of this space which is why there is not an additional studio fee to book. Most all of my sessions will be outdoors at one of the many locations this base has to offer + surrounding areas of Oceanside + San Diego. As a military wife i understand that sometimes family only gets to visit once a year, maybe even once every 3 years, so in the event of rain or bad weather on the day of your session— you won't have to miss out on those quality images you've waited months or even YEARS for! Plus you still have the security of knowing you won't have to miss out on the "babies first" photo documentary of the "first time you met your Mimi + Pawpaw" please keep in mind when booking a session with me you must specify if you'd like to host your session in the studio or else i will assume it is to be an outdoor location and will choose accordingly based on your inquiry form details. Homestead is very much still a space of my home that l use daily so please keep that in mind when requesting a session with me hosted indoors. Please be curtious to my neighbors by parking + driving respectfully down our street and throughout our neighborhood. Do not park in prohibited areas and do not block driveways other than my own. If you are a photographer wanting to swap headshots, please know the invitation is always open! By swapping headshots we are basically trading services = it's free branding for our business (photographer math lol) bring your laptop and we can also edit together I love chatting over hot coffee and brainstorming with likeminded individuals!!
I hope to see you in homestead soon!