The Story Behind the Lens: Ellicott City Photographer. I was honored to be asked to participate in an interview with VoyageBaltimore Magazine for their Inspiring Stories series. They interview local entrepreneurs, creatives, and community leaders in the Baltimore area for this segment. So of course I said yes!
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From Art Teacher to Photographer
In my interview, I talked about my background in art and art education, and how I got to where I am today as a newborn, baby, and family photographer. To read my interview, you can check it out here. As a young child I always loved to draw and when my parents recognized my talent, they encouraged me to take art lessons. By the time I was preparing for college I decided that I would get my degree in Art Education. I remember spending hours in and outside of my college art classes drawing and painting. As an Art Education major, I was trained in various art media, as well as art history.
My favorite art media were drawing in pencil, charcoal, and pastel, as well as oil painting. However, I truly loved all of my art classes, including printmaking, photography, jewelry making, pottery, human figure, sculpture, and so forth. As long as I’m making art, I feel fulfilled. Traveling has been the inspiration for much of my artwork. Landscapes are a large part of my favorite subject matter and I also incorporate portraits into my landscape paintings.
I was certified to teach k-12 art, and began my teaching career at the middle school level for 5 years, before switching to high school for 2 years. I also earned my Master of Arts in Art Education during my time as a middle school teacher. When our daughter was born, I became a stay at home mom. We had a son and then another, so I was busy devoting my time to raising our 3 children. But by the time I was pregnant with our third baby, I had plans to start my newborn photography business.
Rebecca Leigh Studio is my place for artwork and art education. I started the concept for Rebecca Leigh Studio during the pandemic when my photography business wasn’t allowed to operate due to stay at home orders. Since I wasn’t able to photograph my photo sessions, I decided to start a place to teach online art lessons. During that time I was creating more art education ideas, and then as photography sessions resumed, I put Rebecca Leigh Studio aside for a few years, as I focused on growing my photography business. But I knew that I would come back to this project when the time was right.
Ellicott City Photographer
Rebecca Leigh Photography photographs some of the most important memories in a family’s life. Since I have a variety of art interests, doing just one thing doesn’t align with my multi-passionate creative spirit. That is why I love my photography business and creating artwork on the side. In my art studio I live in a mess of creative art projects, which doesn’t help my inner desire to be a minimalist, because then where do I put all my art supplies? I thrive more on organization, though, so I have to keep tidying up my art space so I can continue on with my projects.
When it comes to photography, I knew from the beginning of my business, that my focus would be on newborns, babies, and families. Before I started my photography business, I had already been photographing my life since childhood. My first camera was a blue Kodak Fischer Price film camera that I took to the Grand Canyon when I was a kid. After that, I did get to upgrade to better cameras. 😉
I learned so much more about photography in college. I had to go into a completely dark room to load film into my camera. Then every photo had to be well thought out in terms of the exposure triangle, so film wasn’t wasted. Finally in the darkroom, the images would come to life as I developed my own film.
Now with digital photography, you aren’t limited to a roll of film, which makes trying new things easier. I loved photographing landscapes and portraits during my travels abroad. Then when my children were born I decided to focus on newborn and baby photography. That brings me to where I am today. It has been over 10 years since I started photographing friend’s babies for fun and I began Rebecca Leigh Photography after my youngest child turned 2 in 2017. So this July 2025, Rebecca Leigh Photography will be 8 years old!
It is the best job, and I am so thankful to all of the families that entrust me with photographing their memories!
