All About Me! [Clarksville Lifestyle Photographer]
Hi, Hello. Yes, I’m doing a post all about me (I’m so vain 🙃). But it’s Friday and I think a Friday introduction blog post is due!
So, hi! I'm Julie! My last name is Igo, which is pronounced like “eye-go.” I’ve heard it called every other thing besides that! It’s funny though because my maiden name is Shaffer, which people always spelled/got wrong, so I had though going to just three letters would be much better, but alas, I was wrong. Haha! It’s Irish in case you’re wondering. Check out a pic of my hubs below and it makes more sense (fair skin, freckles, dark hair, dreamy blue eyes)!
Most days you can find me working on my computer, editing photos! I think a lot of people don’t realize that so much of a photographers time is actually spent behind a computer and not the lens! I love how editing takes an image to the next level. My goal is to make the person FEEL the emotion the subject in the photo is feeling (happy, silly, loving, etc!) and I try to make my edits match that emotion. I would say that my style is “moody but bright, and definitely warm” which 100% matches who I am as a person!
Which brings me to…who am I? First and foremost, I'm a wife and a momma (I have one little boy, Theo, and a fluffy golden doodle pup named Pattycakes). They are my world! My husband and I met in 2010 when we were both in the Army. I had a tough time trying to figure out what the heck to do with my life once I hung up my uniform, and to be honest, I felt pretty lost until I picked up my old camera that had just been laying around collecting dust. I started off taking pictures of my kiddo and pup, and quickly realized I LOVED it! This should’ve come as no surprise though, because while growing up I was always the self appointed family historian.
My husband and I love to travel, and we really love going to Disney World because it’s “the happiest place on Earth” (and well, it’s great entertainment for our toddler and allows us to still eat yummy food and drink delicious drinks)!. I’m totally a coffee-aholic, and wine lover, and ok, a bit of a beer snob also, ha! I’m very spoiled too because my husband is an excellent chef and I eat gourmet meals when he isn’t gone with the Army. I could cook… I just don’t enjoy it like he does!
I didn’t study photography in college, but I feel that it was always somehow a part of my curriculum, as I earned my degrees in Media & Communications Studies, and Public Relations (small side story: I often joke I’m a person divided-- I have my undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, and my graduate from the Florida State University; so I say both Go Gators and Go Noles!).
During a photo session, I will likely talk your ear off, which I find helps to put clients at ease so that basically forget they are even taking photos! I also am slightly silly. For example, when I take photos, I seem to often end up on my tip toes and falling forward as I shoot, which is kind of hilariously ridiculous and can always get a fun smile from my clients!
To my core I believe that moms need to get in the photo. I know so many awesome women who are SO hard on themselves and say they hate how they look in photos, but this has got to stop! Moms, listen to me! Twenty years from now, you won’t look back and regret getting in the frame. You will look back and see yourself holding tiny little hands, kissing baby cheeks, laughing and playing with those little souls who are not so little now. Photos last a lifetime and will be something you can cherish when your babies are grown up and have babies of their own. I also believe in making women feel BEAUTIFUL! With my boudoir work I love making a women feel empowered in her own skin, just as she is, with ZERO photoshopping/liquifying. You’re perfect just as you are and I can help you see that!
Lastly and most importantly… I believe that EVERYONE has a story to tell, and I love being the one to help you tell it. 😘
