Hi there, my name is Alex, and I'm a mom of nine.

Cameras have intrigued me for as long as I can remember. There's something about capturing time and holding it still, and then being able to go back later and relive it.

My first real camera was a Leica, and I ended up with it almost by accident — someone brought it back from Europe and it found its way to me. Later, after I got married, I went to college and took a few photography classes, and around that time I started my small business and moved over to the Canon line of equipment.

But what really pushed me to make this my work was our own wedding. We hired a photographer, and what came back wasn't what we hoped for. We have no album and no good images — just bits and pieces that, over time, I've come to regret looking at, because all they bring back is disappointment. My children don't have a real set of memories from our beautiful day.

Raising nine children has taught me more about this work than any class ever did. Almost nothing goes to plan, and I've long since stopped expecting it to. A wedding timeline slips, someone's crying ten minutes before the ceremony, the light isn't where anyone promised it would be. A toddler decides halfway through a family session that today is not the day. None of it rattles me. I stay patient, I keep moving, and I've learned that the moment worth having is usually the one nobody scheduled.

That's what brought me this far. Now I get to help other families hold onto theirs — on a wedding day, or just an ordinary afternoon with the people they love.