Beauty from ashes
I can't remember the first time I thought: "I want to be a photographer."
Instead, what I remember most is actually feeling like I would never be good enough to be one. (that sounds really sad! but bear with me)
Any and everything to do with pictures has always been my passion. In middle school (before kids had cell phones), I vividly remember sneaking my mom's brand new Canon camera to a sleepover to take as many pictures with my friends as I could. At the beginning of high school, I remember taking selfie after selfie to get the perfect Myspace profile picture, then spending hours editing on GIMP to get the pictures exactly as I wanted them; "perfect." Every sunset, every meal on vacation, every memory had to be captured.
When my daughter was born, this passion exploded to a whole new level. It felt like every single day held so many precious moments that I never wanted to forget and that I had to make sure I captured. I was absolutely that mom that had to get pictures done every few months during my daughter's first year (does anyone remember Portrait Innovations LOL?!), and I bought my first DSLR camera when my daughter was a few months old.
Throughout all of the change in life -- becoming a young mom, making my way through college, building a career in the corporate world, buying a house and making it a home -- second to God's goodness, faithfulness, abundance, and miraculousness, photography, and capturing each of life's precious moments, has always been the constant.
I've spent more than half of my life learning about photography: taking classes at Pittsburgh Filmmakers to learn the ins and outs of lighting, depth of field, and composition, taking courses on the history of media, videography and photography, graduating with a BA in Digital Media, spending hours mastering my DSLR settings and taking pictures, and so on. But for some reason, I always thought I wasn't "enough" to ever become a real photographer. I wasn't "creative" enough, "smart" enough, "brave" enough, [fill in the blank] enough.
It wasn't until I was in the middle of the most financially challenging season of my life (walking through circumstances that were out of my control, yet weighed so heavily on me financially), that in my desperation to provide for my daughter and myself, I thought "Maybe I can help us make ends meet if I start taking pictures."
I still didn't think I could be good enough, but out of sheer desperation, I knew I needed to do something. So in August 2024, Julia Faith Photography began.
I was immediately blown away by so much support. I will never, ever, forget how grateful and in awe I was when my 2024 Christmas tree farm minis sold out. I was truly in disbelief that as many people wanted to book with me as they did, and that season of my life is one that changed me forever.
If it weren't for the financial hardship that I prayed and prayed to end, I know I would have never finally taken the leap of faith and given photography a true chance. The thing I desperately wanted God to remove was the very circumstance He used to push me into something I had been too afraid to pursue.
This is much more than I'd ever like to talk about myself, but the most important lesson I learned through this journey and want to share is that God makes beauty from ashes.
Isaiah 61:3: "...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair..."
Whatever you may be going through right now; know that God can and still is making something so beautiful out of it. He doesn't waste anything, and He is able to use absolutely all of it for good.
Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
About 6 months in to Julia Faith Photography, in March 2025, I was recruited for a new job in my corporate career. This job was a blessing. It provided for us financially, it grew me in ways I am so incredibly thankful to have been grown, and it gave me some of the most genuine coworkers turned friends that I am so so thankful for. But it kept me so busy that I had no choice but to completely pause all things photography. With each day that passed, the feeling of "this can't be what I was created to do" grew stronger and stronger. Working 12 hour days was becoming too common, and I constantly felt like I didn't have time for God, my family, or for people. After a year and a half at that corporate job, the company was acquired, and I knew God was calling me back to what He started in 2024: Julia Faith Photography.
In August 2026, I made the decision to leave the corporate world. I don't know if this will be temporary or permanent, but I know right now that re-dedicating my time to Julia Faith Photography is what God has so clearly placed on my heart to do. This is another huge leap of faith in my life.
I am so thankful and excited to be able to say "my books are open" again, and to praise God for all that He will continue to do with this little business and dream ❤︎
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To anyone who -- like me -- has a dream in their heart that they feel they are not "good" enough to pursue, please do it anyway. I promise you that you are more than enough, and that there are amazing things waiting for you after you take your leap of faith too ❤︎
If you have a beauty from ashes moment in your life that you want to share, I would absolutely love to hear it in the comments ❤︎