Today we’d like to introduce you to Terecita Baker.
Terecita, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have always loved to take photos in my early-adult years. Whenever I was going out anywhere, I always had at least three disposable cameras (pre-digital. Lol) in my purse or backpack. I always wanted to be able to capture the moments. Everyone I was with always knew that I was going to get photos of whatever event/activity we were doing.
When I was a bit older, monetizing came from a different piece of my heart. I was a single mother, recently divorced, and a friend of mine was telling me that she really wanted to get photos of her children and she just could not afford to pay anyone to do it. So, of course, remembering how many things I could not afford as a new single mother, I instantly offered to do this for her. I didn’t believe I would do the most amazing job, but I could offer her decent photos of her children for free. Well, when we were done, she was so happy, and she said: “You should really charge for this!”
I started to think that this could be a great way for me to make some extra money to help support my family while working a part-time job. That wasn’t quite the case as I started out charging $25.00 for a one-hour session, which included digital images. Clearly, that was not going to cut it, and I had to re-evaluate my rates if I was going to make it. This was not an easy task for me as I was always in the mindset of this was not something I could afford. It took many years to get to a point where I was comfortable with charging more.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I would not say that this has been a smooth road for me. Although, I would also say, that when anyone steps out of the realm of a “standard way of earning,” and chooses to support their family through a passion or an art, there are always going to struggles. I would not say that mine is any greater than anyone else’s obstacles.
With that being said, my first challenge started with my first marriage. Yes, there was more than one… In my early twenties, I married a man that everyone thought was super charming and really sweet. They were not completely wrong. He was those things. But there were some underlying issues that I believe were triggered once children entered our lives. My husband at the time suffered from clinical depression. He decided to tend to this with alcohol. This, of course, did not help his situation. He only got worse. This pushed me to have to make a very difficult decision.
I had to take my not-even-6-months old baby girl (Tariana) and my soon-to-be-adopted ten-year-old son (Tyler) and find a new place to live. With the assistance of my mother-in-law, I was able to find a new place to live and afford move-in costs, so that I could leave her son. My parents watched my kiddos, and my brother-in-law helped me move out all of the kids’ things and some of mine all in one day while my husband was passed out in the bedroom. I can’t say that this was the best time of my life.
My parents were often very supportive in helping watch my children when I was working my “day job” and willing to help if they could for other things. But there were definitely some times where they were unable to help, and I had a toddler running around while I was doing a photo shoot. These days were very stressful, and I am sure, very frustrating for my clients that had to deal with this. The other obstacle that often posed a challenge was actually being able to afford to put enough gas in my car to even make it to the photo shoot.
There were times I was scrounging for loose change anywhere I could get it just so I could make it to the shoot. Those are certainly days, I wondered if I would make it through the year, or the month, or even the week. For quite some time, I thought I would never ever want to get married again. But four years later, I was foolishly walking down the aisle. I tried to give love another try. This time it was with a woman. My wife always told me that I would have to be prepared for if the people in our lives (friends and family) did not support our relationship.
But I don’t think she was fully prepared to live up to that. As always, my parents proved to be supportive of me and us. However, her family did not do the same, and for all intents and purposes, her family disowned her. Within a year of our marriage, she could no longer take it, and she walked right out of our marriage so she could be near her family again, and be in their lives again. I admit that at first I was devastated by this second divorce that was going to be put on my plate.
I was beginning to think I would be like Ross from “Friends.” Lol. I laugh now, but it wasn’t too funny at the time. While I was devastated by the initial impact, it didn’t take me long to change my mindset to “if you don’t want to be in my life, then go.” From this experience, I gained a completely different kind of strength than I did from my first failed marriage. I really had to find daily joy, what I like to call Snaps of Magic so that I could get my life back on track. Throughout these failed marriages, I was also going through the challenge of my son.
Through much resilience from courts, social workers, and the whole messed up system, we were finally able to finalize adoption when he was eleven years old. But that certainly was not the end of the adoption journey. My son still had so much anger from his birth parents, and it definitely got worse after the first divorce. He made some choices that eventually caused a separation from the family. I often wondered if he would ever be a part of the family again, or if he would want to. Or even if he would make it through high school, or be able to move forward in life.
I am beyond thrilled to say that he has graduated high school, our relationship is restored and growing every day. We don’t live close to each other (five hours away) but visit as often as possible. Sometimes I look back on these times, and I wonder how I was able to keep my day job, let alone even pursue more. But I know that it is because of amazing people that surround me, whether for a short time or much longer, that help to bring little bits of joy. And every day I look for those little nuggets that help me find joy in each day, my little Snaps Of Magic.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Simply put, my business is a photography business. I am a photographer that looks to find that special magic in a person, an event, a celebration, or in nature. My primary focus has always been senior photos and non-profit charity events. I do other photos like family sessions, headshots, engagements, and sometimes weddings. But I primarily look towards seniors and charity events.
There is just something about those high school seniors that still have that glow in their eyes and that feeling that they have their whole life ahead of them and they can conquer the world — what a great time in a person’s life to capture. And the non-profit events are just so much fun! I certainly am not going to be getting rich with these, but there are some organizations that truly have a special place in my heart.
Recently (in the past couple of years), I have really been drawn to photographing nature and landscapes. It is just so peaceful, and there is so much beauty in this world to see. I might even say that it is therapeutic. So, one of my next challenges for my nature journey is to get enough pieces that I truly love, so that I will be able to do a Gallery Art Show. I often ask myself if I am the best photographer around. Do I always have the best photos? That’s an absolute hell no!
But I know that I am always trying to find that magic. And it is always there. If it is not obviously overflowing in abundance, then you just have to find it. This is one of the reasons that I want to get my video series launched this year, entitled “Snaps Of Magic.”
It will be all about finding these nuggets of joy, and all about sharing your journey in hopes that your story can help someone else find magic and hope while they go through their journey.
What were you like growing up?
When I was a kid, I was a total tomboy! I never wanted to wear dresses, and I was always running around and getting dirty, playing sports, and rough-housing with the boys. This drove my mom nuts! This was most prominent in my life in my elementary school years.
My 6th-grade teacher even once said, “I don’t know how your mom does it. You come to school with white jeans. You go home with them completely dirty from the blacktop. And the next time you wear them, they are completely white again. And then you do it all over again.” When I entered middle school, this lessened tremendously, but probably mostly because we no longer had recesses where we could just run around. But I still stayed pretty active.
I played all the sports our school had to offer at the time, which was volleyball, basketball, and softball. In P.E. classes, I was always trying to be one of the top performers (except with running the mile which I hated. Lol). One could say that I was a little bit competitive… Just a little. When I got to high school, I focused on one sport, which was basketball, managing to play four years on the varsity team. This one sport actually kept me athletically busy all year long, including the summer. There were times when I struggled with the sport not being as much fun as it use to be.
When I first started playing basketball in elementary school, I was on a team that was so bad that we lost every single game. But we always had fun. I found that as I got on better and better teams, that the players fought and argued more, which made it less fun. I still love the girls I played with and being a part of the team was some of the best parts of my high school career.
In addition to sports in high school, I also started to step into performance art. When I was in middle school, my older brother was in high school. And while he was in high school, he was in drama and choir. As I watched him perform on stage, I was quite envious. So, I thought that I might venture into this realm and see how it goes. It turns out that all of this type of artistic talent went to my brother. Lol
I not once got a leading role in any play or musical. But I always had fun rehearsing as part of the chorus, and I truly enjoyed being a part of the choir. As far as my personality is concerned, I was always more of the quiet type. I had the friends that I usually hung out with (often in younger classes) but often kept to myself. I didn’t go out to a lot of parties or activities outside of my sport or drama/choir.
I got along with pretty much everyone, but just wasn’t someone that people were dying to hang out with. I would say that I was also not seen as a girl that most guys thought was attractive. I was not a girl that guys asked out. And I never went to my high school prom. Sometimes that is sad to me, but many people say that I didn’t miss much. But I’m sure that’s just to make me feel better about it. Lol!
Contact Info:
- Phone: 7144767514
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