Atlanta Wedding Photographer

Hey there!

I’m Rachel, owner of Rachel Boyd Photography, a wedding and portrait photographer based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

Writing about myself always feels so weird. I can’t tell you how long I have put off starting a blog because I was dreading what I knew would have to be my first post, the one all about me. Insert gagging emoji!

I guess i’ll start from the beginning?

I feel like this is the story of most photographers honestly, but I didn’t set out to be a photographer. Ever since I was a little girl all I wanted to be was a nurse. I went to college at Ohio State, was there for 3 years then moved here to Atlanta. Then I transferred to Kennesaw State but lost so many credits in the transfer that I basically had to start over. A huge bummer!

I was at KSU for a couple years. In that time I met my now husband, Patrick. We eventually got married and I continued to work towards my degree. It came time for me to apply for nursing school, I was so excited! I had been working as a CNA for awhile and was so ready to get one step closer to my goal!

Well, I was rejected.

I was devastated. I took a semester to gather my thoughts. Do I choose a new major? Do I apply again? I decided to try to apply one more time.

Then, BOOM. Pregnant!

We came to the conclusion that it was best for me to not re-apply. We figured it would be too much to be knee deep in clinicals while also navigating becoming a new mother.

I always hoped to be a stay at home mom when the time came, so I was thankful that Patrick had a job that would allow me to do that.

Fast forward to our beautiful daughters arrival. Immediately, I became obsessed with capturing every move she made. My phone storage was monopolized with pictures of my Payton Rose, so that next Christmas Patrick decided to buy my a nice camera.

My first DSLR sat in the box for about a year!

I was so intimidated, there were so many buttons! I had no clue where to start. Patrick kept making jokes that we was going to return the camera if I didn’t start to use it. So, I hoped on YouTube and started watching all the videos on how to use a DSLR camera.

I started taking a million more photos of Payton. Slowly but surely I was getting the hang of this whole fancy camera thing! I started taking pictures here and there for friends and family. I realized that I was really enjoying taking photos and I was getting sort of good!

It was summer of 2019 that decided to see if I could make a little side business out of this. I started advertising for photography sessions for dirt cheap, like $50 a session. Just to see if people would even be interested and to build up my portfolio. I was shocked that I actually started booking people!! I was starting to gain traction and having a lot of fun with it, then it all came to a halt.

Did I mention that when I first advertised photography sessions that I was pregnant with my second child? Ha! He came September 2019 so it was all put on pause while I navigated having two kids, two and under.

After a few months, I decided to get back at it full force. I started an instagram account for my photography and started posting regularly. I got things booking again. And then. March of 2020 came. We all know what that meant. It all came back to a halt!

SMH

For the next year, photography was put on the back burner. I would still take photos of my family, but I never thought I would actually turn it into a business. Not after all these hiccups.

Come the beginning of 2021, I was a full on stay at home mom. I loved it, it was hard, but being a stay at home mom is so rewarding! I recognize that it was a huge privilege and I’m so grateful that I was able to do it. But I started wanting something more for myself, I wanted to work but still be able to be at home with my kids when I needed to.

I decided to take the leap again with my photography business. It was time to give it my all, for real! I realized in the past I was half in it, half out. Which was understandable! I had a new born and then we were all navigating a pandemic! Life was returning to normal and I knew I just needed to jump.

I started posting again on my business instagram and promoting myself. This time also wanted to dabble in weddings. So, I signed up for styled shoots to build my portfolio. I looked for second shooter positions and bought new gear.