Ralston High School English teacher Alexa McEvoy wanted to be a photographer from the days of her disposable Kodak camera.
She said: “I always really admired photographers and wanted a camera of my own. I didn’t really ever think it was something you could do as a job, at least not for me.”
The 23-year-old received her first camera a few years ago on Christmas and used it to take photos at family holidays, birthday parties and any other time she got the chance. It quickly became something she loved, and she started a business for herself four years ago.
“A friend of mine wanted his senior pictures retaken. I offered to do some for fun, posted them to Facebook and the following summer I had 20 seniors ask me to take their photos,” McEvoy said, “I was like ‘okay, I guess this is my job now.’”
McEvoy is a natural light photographer who specializes in seniors and weddings. Her business is self-titled as Alexa McEvoy Photography.
During her past four years as a photographer, the lessons McEvoy has learned in balancing photography with her college studies and now with full-time teaching are plentiful.
“Not every shoot has to look the same, that’s something I’m really realizing. You have to work hard to produce different images each time,” McEvoy said, “There are times when it doesn’t feel like my passion, but I’ve already committed to taking the photos for someone, and I always feel better when I get there.”
Along with working to produce different images, comes technique and the process of taking a good photo, which McEvoy has practiced to perfect in the last four years.
She said: “It comes from feeling really inspired to start, and feeling a burst of creative energy and saying to yourself ‘I want to capture that’ and wanting to capture it in the best light. Literally and figuratively.”
Photography, according to McEvoy, is like writing a good story. You may need to “beef up” the details and manipulate things such as the lighting and the pose. A great photo in McEvoy’s eyes is one in which someone is genuinely laughing. Her advice is “bring a good joke along with you” when taking someone’s photos.
Even though photography is McEvoy’s passion, she said teaching is her true calling. She will soon teach yearbook at Ralston High School as well. Photography is where she is able to “escape and be creative”.
Full-time teaching and full-time photography are harder to mix than it may seem. According to McEvoy, both jobs are complicated to balance.
She said: “I think one of them is going to have to go someday. I’m not great at saying ‘no’ to people, so I overwhelm myself with both jobs. Instead of feeling like one is my passion and one is my calling, they both sometimes just feel like jobs.”
One way that McEvoy stays motivated to continue her work is through her competitive nature. She claims to be a competitive person, and that the work of other photographers is what keeps her motivated.
Another source of motivation and a reminder of her love for this passion are the photographers that inspire McEvoy to work hard, produce her best image and see the beauty in the art she makes.
“The first photographer I followed on Instagram was Wyn Wiley. He was my competition so I wanted to hate him, but I never could. He’s so talented and puts truly authentic work out there. I admire him,” McEvoy said, “Another is Madi Schultz. She’s amazing as well. To die for, actually.”
Photography is McEvoy’s true passion, and teaching was her dream job growing up. Now she says that when she grows up, she wants to practice her videography skills by making videos for Husker games or the College World Series, but admits that these are just dreams.
“I don’t think it would truly fulfill me, because I want to do more for the world,” McEvoy said.
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