Today we’d like to introduce you to Caitlin Ryan.
Hi Caitlin, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In the family portraits I take, all my craft and expertise honed over years of learning the trade are completely invisible. While photography has its highly technical side of f-stops and shutter speeds, my art springs from bringing out and capturing the joy in families and couples as they cherish one another. I get to play and so do they – our sessions become a happy memory lasting as long as the portraits on their walls. And we believe in the value of our family portraits, family heirlooms that will be passed down for generations. I am driven by my vision of a child looking up at those pictures on grandma’s wall, thinking – I am loved, I am valued, I have a place in this family.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Running and growing a successful small business, besides the demands on time and energy, sometimes challenges my belief in my abilities. I know I can create a thriving enterprise. I know I can be a terrific boss. I know I can balance my new married life with the busiest of days. When you give one hundred percent to everything you do, it doesn’t feel like you have anything left. That’s where faith carries you through. We haven’t made it this far for nothing. Funny story … short version … I began my family beach portrait career in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I wanted to quit that job so bad! I almost did, walk straight off the shoot. There I was holding a light stick in my hand while standing in the ocean. I went to take a step to the left and written in all capital letters was “BE STILL and know that I am God.” With a direct message from God and tears in my eyes, I listened and I stayed. A week later a man came to work with me who brought me to Hilton Head Island the next year as Assistant Manager of Memory Lane Portraits. Two years later I became General Manager and two years after that I purchased the company. It all happens for a reason, even if we don’t know what that reason is for years to come. Believe in faith and it will all work out the way it is meant to be.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Photographer, Passionate Artist, and Owner of Memory Lane Portraits.
Contact Info:
- Website: memorylaneportraits.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memorylaneportraits/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MemoryLaneHHI
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemoryLaneHHI
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/MemoryLanePortraits
- Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/Htajj2aQr3ifG8VmciCCxw
Image Credits
Headshots courtesy of Ross Jones
Talented Artist of Memory Lane Portraits
Additional Portraits courtesy of Caitlin Ryan, Passionate Artist and Owner of Memory Lane Portraits
