My Photography Journey

Hi y’all! It’s Wonbin! I wanted to share my photography story with you so you can learn how I’ve grown with my photography journey. 

I honestly started photography at such a young age. When I say that, I mean I started taking portraits and landscape shots with my digital camera when I was 8 years old. I remember borrowing my family’s camera and constantly taking pictures when we went on family vacations or outside to do activities. As a kid, I found this passion for documenting the people and places around me and knew I wanted to continue it as a teen.

As I grew older, I continued my interest in photography by taking classes in middle and high school. I got the experience of using a film camera and developing photographs in the dark room, and learned how to use a Canon Rebel in high school. I quickly learned and taught myself how to use my Canon and took a photography class each year until I graduated high school. I found joy in capturing all kinds of photographs and participated in my high school’s yearbook which allowed me to flourish and grow my passion for photography even more. 

Being in yearbook allowed me to both connect with the people surrounding me and let me stay creative while shooting. Our photography rule was that we could only shoot candid photos. I learned how to find the little and big moments during any school event and captured moments without people realizing they were being photographed. I had to place myself at different angles and use my zoom to take pictures of people’s reactions and poses that were happening naturally and I instantly found joy in this type of photography. 

Student, Jack A, yelling during a football game in Fall of 2017

The biggest thing I found joy in was getting shots of friends laughing together, people shouting and waving their arms during a sports game, getting a player’s reaction and movement during a game, and seeing a student play an instrument or project their voice in theater. There is something special about taking a raw and genuine photograph that can share a special moment someone experienced during an event. I loved being able to take photos of people being themselves and being comfortable in the environment they were in, and capturing moments others may have missed. As I saw myself growing and improving with grabbing these special moments, I tried going to as many school events to grow my portfolio and create the best work I could. 

After the yearbook was published, I was able to share some of the images I took for the students for them to have. I was very proud of my work and felt the need to share my favorite shots with the people who I photographed. I got so many shocking and happy reactions that their responses motivated me to continue this area of photography. Getting all those candid moments and capturing pure, real emotions through the frame was something I enjoyed and I knew wanted to continue working on after high school after gaining so much support and motivation from my peers. 

The Percussion team cheering after beating the opposing team during a band game in Summer of 2017.

While I began college, I continued my interest by minoring in photography and worked for the university newspaper for a bit. I got to attend women sporting events and captured sports photography for the women’s volleyball, soccer, and basketball team. I loved getting all the action shots and candid moments like I did in Yearbook but had a feeling that I wanted to do more portraits than sports. 

KU volleyball players defending on the court in Fall of 2018.

So, I stopped working for the newspaper and continued portrait photography by taking senior graduation photos for fellow KU grads. I felt like I could grow with portraits in a different way and still get some posed and candid shots when I got the opportunity. 

I was able to take my first senior grad in 2019 and grew my senior graduation shoots since then by building my connections and getting referrals from the organizations I was a part of. Thankfully, through my connections, I was able to get more inquiries from fellow peers and was able to grow my sessions each year. 

Since I attended and graduated KU, I had taken 8 to 10 seniors each season and was able to grow my business to universities in Colorado by getting contacted by graduates from CU Boulder too after I moved to Colorado after graduating from KU in 2022. 

KU Grad, Halle J, during her confetti pop in Spring of 2024.

From 2019 to the present, I’ve had the opportunity to photograph over 86 graduates and hope to shoot with more graduates in the future! I have had such a wonderful time re-visiting the beautiful college campuses, meeting people, and building connections with new individuals. 

I hope to grow with my grad and senior portraits and progress into the wedding photography industry this year as well. I love getting to celebrate people’s accomplishments and milestones with them, and believe I can grow in this area of photography after educating myself and learning from shadowing fellow photographers at their weddings.

While this summer begins, I plan to learn and educate myself with how to work within this new side of photography, and I hope to gain experience, learn from fellow creators and peers, grow my photography skills, and stay creative! 

Thank you for listening to my photography journey and for supporting me and my business. I can’t wait to grow and share my work with you all very soon!