Well, I'm at Day 2 (yes, I wrote this yesterday & finished today) of Quarantine and with all this free time on my hands I have been given the gift of time to develop my brand. Whether it was my choice or not, the universe has finally not put any obstacles in my way. For a while I have tossed around the idea of doing a blog, selling prints, fully freelancing, starting video tutorials on photography/photoshop techniques, and even starting a creative collective. And now...here we are with 24 hours a day until March 31st (for now) to get all I wanted to to up and going.
Here is officially the first post of my blog. (YAY, but also kind of nerve wracking!) I wanted to dedicate this first post to telling my story. Where I am as a photographer is quite different from where I was 10 years ago when I really started pursuing photography. It's also quite far from where I want to be. So, let's get to it!
WHO AM I?!?!?
Name: Taylor Regulski
Age: 27
Home Town: Chicago, IL
Current City: Orlando, FL
Occupation: Photographer
Bio: Catch me on stage or in the pit capturing your favorite concert or festival memories. Otherwise, I'll be a home playing with my dogs or on an adventure with my boyfriend.
There you have it, my info as if it were on a dating app. I mean really, what more do you need to know about me. Answer: A LOT!
Let me take you back to my high school years. This was a giant age of discovery for me because my plan in life change about 20+ times. First, I wanted to be an actress/singer/dancer on Disney Channel aka the biggest star or triple threat (HAHAHAHA!) That turned into wanting to work in politics and make a change for the world (I was smart but didn't want to got to law school and not be able to have a social life). I even considered being a professional basketball player (my skills weren't that great) but, I really enjoyed the business side of sports (aka all I wanted to do was be the female Jerry McGuire).
High school really was a time of discovery, love, loss, and learning. Throughout the duration one thing that was constant for me was music. I was going to concerts every weekend, living for Warped Tour & Country Thunder every summer, and constantly trying to win tickets to see artists I loved. Looking back at it, the amount of time and money I spent at concerts/festivals was ridiculous but, it all led me to here.
In 2010, I got my first DSLR camera and loved taking photos of everything...well mainly sports, friends, and concerts. True life, I have photos from my second Taylor Swift concert because I snuck my camera in. I, at the time, thought I was so cool and super professional. Little did I know where I would end up over 10+ years later.
For the remainder of my high school career and into college, I frequently came back to my old stomping grounds to take photos of friends playing their favorite sport. Eventually, I transferred schools and ended up attending Loyola University Chicago where my passion soared. I became a photography/darkroom teaching assistance and immersed myself, as much as possible, into the realm of film & digital photography. Most of my time was spent in the lab teaching others since I often was told to "only come to class on project days since I already knew the material (shoutout to self teaching photoshop techniques at the age of 12)."
Rather than completing my Senior year at Loyola I completed the Disney College Program in Florida from August of 2014 - May 2015. I never moved back home and choose to reside in Orlando to finish school and start my career. Fast forward to 2020 after completing my undergrad at FIU, my Masters at FAU, working at Disney with photography at ESPN & Disney Fine Art Photography, and building my brand I'm finally having my dream become a reality.
This path has been far from easy but I'm able to work in an industry that allows me to capture moments that become our favorite memories or even history. THAT IS SO COOL and something I just REALLY love! For me photography has always been about capturing people, places, and things that makes you feel deep emotions or like you were there. My style has transformed and my techniques developed as I continue to dabble in new areas of photography.
SO, THERE YOU HAVE IT!
That's the basic gist of where I started and how I got to where I am. I'll definitely be going more in depth about why CameraLady, how I got started in concert photography, photoshop techniques, and more! For now enjoy this brief introduction while we all try to keep our sanity for the next 2 weeks!