Hi, I'm Isabella
I don't have a cute little story about how my parents bought me my first camera and how I’ve spent years perfecting my craft. I wish it did. I mean, I did have a little point and shoot camera as a kid, and I loved using it. I even took photography as an elective in high school. But I can’t lie. My passion for photography stopped there for a long time. For almost 10 years actually.
No, my story doesn’t start with a little kid who was destined to be a world famous photographer. My story starts with an ending. Having to leave a job I loved in architectural drafting. All because of health issues I had no control over. It starts with rage and anger that this is what my life had come to. It starts with loss, sadness, and a bit of a depressive spiral, grieving the life I thought I'd have. It starts with a determination that this is not how my story would end.
My story starts in 2025. Having just left the job that I loved, I was determined to not let myself sit around wallowing every day. I needed to do something. So I had made the decision that if I couldn't work, I was going to learn new skills. Skills I’ve always wanted to learn, but never had the time or motivation. This was my motivation. Photography was the first one to come to mind. Without missing a beat, I signed up to a local photography class, and borrowed my mum's DSLR to practice on. And practice I did.
Now, if you know me, you know I love animals (cats especially). I grew up in a home surrounded by animals. My deep passion for animals comes from my mum, who raised my brother and I to love and appreciate every single animal for exactly who they are. Whether it's a dog, cat, chicken, goldfish, goat, or cow, every animal has its own personality. A personality that deserves to be loved and celebrated.
My love for animals has translated into a lot of things over the years. At 18, I adopted two cats of my own (I'm up to five now, my husband said no more). At 21, I started foster caring for my local rescues. Foster caring is where my passion for animal photography really started to develop. All these rescue animals needed homes, and to get them homes, we needed good photos of them. So as I would sit on the floor of our "cat room" with kittens climbing up my back, mama cat meowing for attention, and my own cats scratching at the door, I'd practice taking photos. First with my phone, then, in 2025, with the DSLR I borrowed from my mum, and finally with my own mirrorless camera.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I got pretty good at it! The people in my life encouraged me to start this little business and start photographing other peoples pets too. So I did! It’s been so much fun! Even though I’m finally branching out to other genres of photography, pet photography will always have my heart.
After learning all my photography skills on animals, particularly baby animals, photographing humans feels like a walk in the park! I mean, I have to use the squeaky toy a lot less to get human attention (although I won’t hesitate to get the squeaky toy out if you won’t look at the camera!). It’s exciting finally branching out with my photography. I’m getting to photograph some beautiful couples and families, and I even photographed a wedding (something I swore I’d never do)!
Anyway, there’s my long, slightly dramatic story about how I ended up on this side of the camera. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life, but I can genuinely say that choosing to pick up that camera was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m glad I had the courage and drive to do it.
"Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day"
- John Grogan