From hobby to career

I've been taking photos since I attended middle school. My mother, much to her dismay and pocketbook, let me use her camera to take photos of everything I thought beautiful, especially the south Texas partly cloudy skies. I took my first photography class my sophomore year of high school and I didn't look back! My father gave me my grandfather's Minolta SR-7 to use for the class and I learned the basics of camera settings and film speed. I learned to develop my own film, how to take a photo, how to develop prints with an enlarger and what filters gave me the looks I was going for in images, and how to mount photos on paper. It was completely eye-opening!

I went on to college and focused on a career in Broadcast Journalism since I loved telling stories and covering sports, but photography was always there following me in my classes. The dream was ESPN, and then when I got married and began a family I would establish a photo studio for myself. But sometimes our plans switch gears and I met my husband in my last years of college and the rest is history. He bought me my first Nikon D3300 DSLR camera for Christmas 2014 and De La Cruz Photography, LLC was born in 2015. Taking photos has always brought me extreme joy and I hope you're able to feel that From my photographs.

When I'm not out on shoots or editing, you can find me with camera nearby documenting the life of my 3 children and my reluctant, but loving husband (Hey, he married a creative. He should have known what he was getting himself into!). I also enjoy the beauty the Tucson desert has to offer, coffee dates, learning more about my Catholic faith, and archery!

Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know a bit about me! I hope we can find some time to get to know each other better and make your photo dreams come alive!