Daria's Day: Thank heaven for Jaquelin!

When our daughter, Summer, was ten months old we figured it was high time we hired a babysitter so that Andy and I could have some date nights. Our darling, teenaged neighbor, Jaquelin, was perfect for the job! Well she did end up being what my kids would still tell you was "the best babysitter in the universe" and someone we all still totally love and adore, but more than that...she was also one of the main reasons I became a photographer!

Here's the story...As Jaquelin started her final year in high school, she needed some senior portraits taken and I offered to do them since I loved snapping pictures. We had so much fun and the photos really captured her spirit. Her family liked them too. So much that they called one day and asked if I would consider photographing their older daughter's wedding the following year. And here is the amazing part...they wanted to pay me!!

I was so flattered and surprised, but also terrified!! First I thought I'd better figure out how much to charge. It seemed that $500 sounded like a fair amount. My next thought was, I'd better learn how to take my camera out of "P" mode and figure out how the thing worked. So I took all the local classes I could find and felt pretty comfy with the camera by the summer. Finally the wedding rolled around and it was AWESOME! It was a ton of work, but I loved every minute of it!

The funny part of the story is that the wedding was in the days of film and I bought the best Kodak film available and used 30+ rolls of it. After developing the prints and buying some proof albums to put them in, I think I made about...a whopping twenty-five cents. Looking back, I suppose it was like a paid apprenticeship.

Almost nine years later I'm a full-time photographer and loving it. Jaquelin has long since graduated from college and she's a busy young lady who is destined for greatness! She is wonderful and we all wish that she would take a teaching job here in Vermont, because Massachusetts is simply too far away!!

Here is one of the original photos I took of Jaquelin that has been on my bulletin board for all of these years. As you can see, it's a little worn...