Conversations with Sandra Walker

Hi Sandra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Thank you…first I’d like to say I’m truly appreciative for the opportunity to share part of my story and who I am.  I grew up in a small town just outside of the big city and eventually settled into a small town life. I actually got introduced to photography at a young age. My grandfather was a very talented amateur photographer and much of his work is hanging in my home. I remember watching and learning his process as a little girl in his home darkroom developing film. The process of watching slides come to life as they were developing was really interesting to me. By the time I actually came back around to photography as an adult and as it exists in my world today was in large part because of the horse business my husband and I have.  I wanted to have professional images taken for our horses and I knew how I wanted them to look. At that time social media was barely getting started and I wanted images for print. I did a lot of reading and researching different techniques. How to shoot people, animals, nature, and landscape. All of which have been very useful elements. However, I found out very quickly that regardless of what I read or what I learned that for me the best teacher was going to be experience. I wanted to make mistakes, try my own things, and share the world as I see it through my eyes, which led me here. I really leaned on the things I remember my grandfather teaching me and the old days of using film to understand light, exposure, and framing among other things. I learned as much  as I could about how my camera worked  and then played and still play with how different formulas of shutter speed, exposure, and light work or don’t work together. From there I really began by just taking pictures and sharing images about our life and world an it blossomed into the business I have now.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
For me, the road has been relatively smooth.

More than anything I have found that I see things in a more artistic and romantic way, so in creating, as most artists do I fight performance anxiety. It is always difficult to have someone send you ideas they have seen elsewhere and are hoping to recreate. I don’t work like that. I work very free-flowing. I like things to happen naturally. To find the setting and let the subject open themselves up for me to capture. Too much structure for me is stifling.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a photographer, I specialize in Portraiture, Western Lifestyle, Portfolio Work, and Equine Photography. I would say that most people know me for my Western Lifestyle work. My husband was raised here in Arizona and has been a cowboy his entire life. While I showed horses, he roped and cowboyed. So we came from very different backgrounds. He introduced me to his world which I had not known up close and personal. There is definitely a mystique to the cowboy lifestyle and I have such respect for it. That is where I think most people began to see my work. I started capturing that way of life through my eyes and it has developed from there.

I think if I’m speaking from a professional standpoint what I am most proud of is my integrity. I work hard to make sure I maintain professionalism around my businesses. Not just this one.

What sets me apart from others? Hmm, I’m not sure I know that…lol!! I think that is a better question for people I’ve worked with. Other than social media and personal relationships I don’t do much advertising so most of my clients have sought me out to photograph them. And to be honest, I’m curious myself what they would say…lol!

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Shoot what you love. Be authentic. Remain close to what inspires you when shooting. The reason people choose you is for the way you see what you capture. Trust yourself.

There are only a few things in life that I can say have come naturally to me. Photography has been one of those things…and I am truly grateful for that gift.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/raftermphotography/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/raftermphotography/
• TikTok: @dogandthebutterfly