Meet Samantha Davis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Davis.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My husband gifted me his dad’s old DSLR one Christmas. I began my journey capturing my children. I wanted to document their childhood. The milestones, birthdays, tiny details, and everything in between. I used to get really frustrated when my images wouldn’t turn out “professional.” For a long time, I thought that having a fancy camera meant having professional pictures. I spent months on YouTube, chatting with gracious photographer friends, and practicing on my own kiddos. Then one of my best friends asked me to photograph her family. I was terrified and felt completely clueless, but when those didn’t turn out as horrible as I had imagined, a few of our mutual friends started to ask me to take their pictures too. And before I knew it, I was a business.

Photography found me at a time in my life where I really needed a perspective shift. For much of my life, I considered myself a “realist.” Which for me, meant that I was always the one to point out the negative in a situation. So much so that those thoughts really began to consume me and overtake me. I had a lot of good going on in my life. But I was unable to see it.

I really feel like the Lord gave me photography as a means to remind me of the beauty I was surrounded by daily. I was forced to search for little moments of goodness. To see beyond what was on the surface and to dig deeper. Slowly I started to have an appreciation for the seemingly mundane. And as I began a journey of healing in my personal life, my life as a creative acted like an ointment on all of my deeper wounds. I found so much joy in taking pictures, joy that I hadn’t known in a very long time.

Please tell us about your art.
I guess I would consider myself a family, lifestyle, and newborn photographer. It’s rare that I have a couple in front of my camera, but I won’t let a family session end without grabbing a couple shots of mom and dad together. My favorite thing is capturing personalities. I often tell families as I am photographing them that they are likely to end up with a few shots of their little ones picking their noses or making silly faces. More often than not, when I send a gallery to a family, it is full of candid’s and details. I love a good “everyone looks this way and smile” shot as much as anyone else, but I much prefer to capture life. And by that, I mean, I want to document the way kids scrunch their noses when they laugh. Baby yawns. Fuzzy newborn shoulders. I want to catch that moment that you throw your head back and laugh at the silly thing the toddler just did. I want to capture the look of pride that dad gives mom when I tell her she looks gorgeous. It’s more important to me for family pictures to be a memory themselves. For everyone to be relaxed and to have fun. Because sure, those posed shots are great. But the kids you see every day, the smiles you witness all the time, those live in real moments. And those are the things you’ll want to remember as your kids grow. In 6 months, 5 years, or a decade, I want the photos I’ve taken of your family to make you feel the same way you did the day you took them. Sure, life with littles is tiresome and hard at times, but it’s also full of so much happiness. I want my clients to have a slice of that time and all the joys, challenges and moments that came with it.

What inspires me? My kids. It’s why I started this gig to begin with. To capture the details of their childhood. To view the world through their eyes and find beauty in the imperfect and simple moments. I swear I have the worst memory. So, for me, being able to document the little things, it’s such a gift. So, I try to give families that same gift. Our kids grow so fast. It really is a blink.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
I think one of the biggest challenges that creatives face today, and likely a timeless struggle, is comparison. That, and the need to produce something that others will like. When it comes to art, when it comes to creativity, most of the stuff artists produce is from the heart. So, the desire for it to be well accepted runs far deeper. I had a friend once compare it to showing people a picture of your baby and having them say things like, “so and so’s baby is way cuter” or “I like your baby’s nose, but if you could change her hair, that’d be great.” It hurts! Putting your heart and soul into something and having it be rejected is hard. And that’s when comparison starts to creep in. And we must fight the temptation to change our art to better fit the mold.

I came to a place a while back where I had to recenter and remember why I became a photographer to begin with. I get to give families memories that they’ll keep for a lifetime. I get to watch my kids grow from behind my lens. And that’s enough for me. There was a time that it wasn’t and it was a daily struggle not to feel down about my work, and I think it’s a natural. But we just have to remember that we are all unique and not everyone is going to love what we create, but as long as we are happy with it, then that’s enough.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can find my stuff on social media and on my website. My business name isn’t the most traditional, but again, this whole thing started with a desire to capture my kids, so my business name was born from their ideas! My Facebook & Instagram is Happy Hippo Photography and my website is happyhippophotography.com. My pages are filled with the families I get the privilege of having in front of my camera, as well as sprinklings of my own life. On my website you can also find my personal blog where I share more personal images, some of my thoughts on motherhood, little notes for my kids, and other random peeks into my brain.

You can support my work by interacting with the things that I post on social media! It feels like every day Facebook and Instagram change things up and make it harder and harder for artists to get their stuff seen. So, if you see something you like, just hit the “like” button or drop a quick comment. That goes for other creatives as well. If you don’t dig my stuff, no biggie. But if you are loving someone else’s art, tell them!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.happyhippophotography.com
• Email: samantha@happyhippophotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/happyhippophotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/happyhippophotography
• Other: www.happyhippophotography.com/personal-blog

Image Credit:
Headshot – Ace Fanning Photography
Other 8 Images – Happy Hippo Photography

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