Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Stone
Hi Alicia , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In December of 2019, my husband bought me my first camera as an early Christmas present to take product pictures (I did crochet work in my free time to sell to friends and family) and toward the middle of the month, I was hit by a crazy thought. I was nine months pregnant, about to pop, when one of my good friends from N.C. welcomed home their very own baby. I reached out and asked her if she’d be interested in allowing me to take Lifestyle photos of them welcoming home their newest little one. Quite shockingly, she agreed!
In the start, I knew nothing of what I was doing but by the grace of God, the photos actually came out alright! Quickly after that session, my own baby was born (quite traumatically), I was hit with heavy PPD, and Covid hit. In truth, my whole world was a mess (let’s be honest, everyone’s was); however, a fire had been lit within me. Pulling me deeper into a dream I didn’t realize I had.
One of my oldest friends in the world is a phenomenal photographer and though I’d been in front of her camera too many times to count, I’d never dreamed of stepping behind the camera myself. Never. And yet, the pull was there, clear as day.
I started really slow and really small (thanks PPD & Covid), offering sessions for a huge discounted price or completely free to any of my friends or family that would have me. A few years later, and my name started spreading and one by one, I began to build a solid clientele (that praise God is steady growing)! And as I continued to educate myself on my trade, I continue to see the fruit of all my labor blooming into something quite beautiful.
Now more than ever, I feel I’ve truly stepped into my niche within the industry, understanding the style and vibe I want to set and the standards that I proudly hold myself to. I have always thrived off creativity (I read, write, and even have a poem published in a super obscure magazine from college) and realize now that I get to imprint that source of creativity into my photography.
My goal with every session is answering the question “what story will my photo’s tell?” I get to tell the story of someone’s life through the art of photography; capturing a moment they will cherish the remainder of their lives. That is my goal. Always. I want to transcend being just a person behind the lens and lean into the beauty of that purpose while also leaning into the deep well of art that thrives within photography.
At the end of the day, my pictures will make up a visual binding of someone’s life and that is no small honor to me. Needless to say, there was no chance of turning back after that one session that catapulted me into a business that I can’t see myself living without. I’m truly grateful for the people that have believed in me, my loving husband, two sweet boys, and friends a plenty, and the clients that trust in me to capture them and their loved ones.
But above all, I’m grateful for the gift God has given me and the purpose He placed in my life when He directed me to photography. It quite literally came to me in one of the worst seasons of my life and when I needed it most.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh my, it was everything but smooth in the beginning.
Not only had I just experienced a traumatic birth (my second born and I both nearly died) and Covid had hit, but I’d just moved to a new place where the only people that knew me where my husband’s family and handful of their friends. Truthfully, so many difficulties were working against me in the start, the largest being the fight against the darkness in my mind. I was not well those following months after my birth (in truth, I don’t even remember the first few months of my babies life) and it was a pretty heavy fight getting back to a place mentally where I felt even partially well. Because of this, I didn’t devote nearly as much time to my dream in that first two years, but I also gave myself grace knowing that if I wasn’t well, I wasn’t going to produce well. I couldn’t pour from an empty cup and in order to step into the dream that had been born within me, I needed to come back to a place where I realized my own worth and that I deserved to be here; to live. That my life was not a mistake in any way, but intentionally created for such a time as this. I fought some ugly, heavy battles in the worst of my PPD, but by the grace and peace of Christ, I’m so grateful to say I’m not only still standing, I’m thriving. Me and my little family.
My family has been hit with more difficulties in the passing years (experiencing two miscarriages and financial struggles during these difficult times) but I can look back on every single chapter of the last four years and see the work God is doing and the good things He has done. I am alive and well, my mental health clearer than it’s been in a long time, getting to do what I love; being a wife, mother, and photographer.
I think I say all this to drill in the point that our struggles don’t have to hold us back or define us. We were created to do hard things and I hope anyone reading about my story can feel that truth in their own lives.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am without a doubt a “right brain” thinker, someone who thrives off creativity, and I truly believe that impacts the way in which I work! The way in which I view my subjects through the lens.
I’ve spent the majority of my life being the biggest nerd I know. From the moment I could understand what my AR Reading points meant (wow, I feel old) I have lived off the creativity and imagination in my own mind. So much so, that I had originally decided to make a career of it. After graduating high school diploma along with my Associates, I raced to a small Baptist College in Florida with the sole purpose of learning more about Literature and the books I loved so much. To the point that I graduated with my Bachelor’s in English! It wasn’t long after, that I decided to return to my home state of N.C. and to start teaching (what I thought my career would be). And as much as I loved each and every single one of my students, I was regretful to find that it was not feeding my creativity as I just “knew” it would but in fact diminishing it.
I went over four years without so much as touching a book of my choosing and almost entirely abandoning the musings I’d been nurturing for years. For my creativity, it was a dark, dark time.
In my third and final year of teaching, I was married and got pregnant with my first child and it was then that I decided to step away from teaching altogether and become a stay at home mom. I found my love for reading again and picked up an old book that I’d been writing on and off for nearly ten years (a WIP that demands to grow bigger still) and tapped into the well of creativity I hadn’t felt since leaving college.
Now, I get to use the creativity that’s driven me much of my life in my work today. In fact, I’ve tapped into a whole new level of my creativity that for my whole life, I didn’t even know existed! And, to no surprise of my own (now that I really think about it), I have come to understand that the dark, moody vibe found within photography is where I’ve camped and began building my business. For too long, I forced myself into the light & airy box to match the style of so many within the industry. But no more!
It was inevitable for me to come upon this conclusion considering the deep love I have for fantasy fiction, the classics/gothic fiction, and fantastical whims of some of the greatest authors and poets this world has ever known. In truth I’m surprised I didn’t come upon it sooner.
Another avenue of this wild dream of mine is to get into fantasy photography and with each passing day, that dream feels closer and closer. Who knows, I guess we will see?
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Being true to who I am and the passion that lives in me. For the first few years of my photography career, I kept trying to fit into the mold of what made others successful. It was as if I was fearful of leaning into the avenue’s of photography that pulled at me. I feel like the moment I decided to lean into my own creativity and produce beautiful pictures that clearly spoke to me as a person, my clientele exploded! People want what we as individuals have to offer and no matter what field you’re navigating, if you let your passion fuel you, your clients will see that and respect it. Prefer it, even.
I stopped trying to be everyone else and allowed myself to be me, in every way. It’s still scary sometimes but I feel like so long as I remain true to who I am, I’ve already achieved success. Sure, the money in photography is great and it’s so exciting being able to provide for my family in ways I’ve not been able to in years, but none of that really felt awesome until the moment I allowed myself to be me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aliciastonephotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciastonephotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliciastonephotography/
