About Me

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Hey! My name is McKaylie Self and welcome to my blog! Below is where you can learn a little bit about me!

I am a full-time undergraduate student at Texas State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I am currently studying Public Relations and Mass Communications as well as Business Administration and Digital Media Innovation.

I am also a photographer! I am very passionate about taking portraits and helping my client feel confident and proud of their selves in their photos. When I am not behind the camera, I am usually hanging with friends, shopping, on the phone with family, or studying for school.

I am from Montgomery, Texas; a small town north of Houston. I have 2 siblings; an older brother, Nathan, and a younger sister, Macie. I also have 3 dogs; Dixie, Belle (Westies) and Lola (pug, pictured above).

I graduated from Montgomery High School in May of 2019. In high school, I was in multiple activities including Choir, Yearbook, National Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and Golf. Outside of school, I attended church and led worship for youth events and was on the worship team during the main services.

Now that I am out of high school, I am staying focused on school work as well as keeping my schedule busy with multiple photoshoots: Seniors, Families, Newborns, etc. Also, now that I live in San Marcos, my clients have expanded to areas near here! It is very exciting to see more and more people reach out to me from new locations.

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To know a little more about me, below are some of my social media accounts where you can follow along on my journey!

Social Media Usernames:

Personal Instagram @mckaylie_self Photography Instagram:@memories.by.mckaylie Twitter: @MckaylieSelf

How It All Began:

I started learning the basics with my mother’s old camera that that she never used, around the time I was 14 years old. For about 2 years I only took pictures using the “Automatic” mode on the camera. I started out just taking photos around my yard of any critters that might be near or flowers; but, after a while, taking photos of flowers and bugs got pretty boring. So, I dressed up my little sister and did little, fun-themed photoshoots of her around town. We would often sneak onto the golf course next to the pond and attempt to take photos with the ducks.

After each mini shoot with my sister, I would post onto Instagram and try and show off my wicked camera skills. Even with the 12 followers I had at the time, I knew I was building an image and reputation for myself and learning more and more each time I picked up the camera.

When I was a sophomore in High School, I was given the position of “Historian” for the Choir Department. This meant I was responsible for photographing every event, trip, and performance that we had; and at the end of the year, I had to make the slideshow for banquet. This position really got me comfortable with walking up to students I didn’t know and ask to take his/her photo. Not only did it help me develop communication skills, but it helped me grow and learn the “posing” aspect of photography. Being a fairly shy person, this was a big step out of my comfort zone, but also very fun. Upperclassmen started to recognize my skills behind the camera and started asking me for photoshoots and what I would charge to take their Senior Pictures.

After a year of taking photos of the Choir Department and getting some paid photoshoots under my belt, I was asked to join the Yearbook Staff. I was so excited to be recognized as a photographer for the school. I attended more extra-curricular activities and sporting events and got much more involved with my school. Outside of school, I started booking more shoots and promoting my business: Memories by McKaylie Photography. This was the time I learned how to shoot manually and a little more professionally.

During my Senior year of High School, I was an Editor for the Yearbook Staff and was the Head Photographer for all school events. I covered a majority of the school activates and documented as much as I could at each event until my SD card was completely full. My photos were used on almost every page of the Yearbook that year. This was the accomplishment that really put my name out there to the whole school and showed everyone my talent with a camera.

After high school, I moved to San Marcos to study at Texas State University and continues to book photoshoots in my hometown as well as my new-town. I decided to expand my business by hiring 10 Senior Representatives from 3 different high schools near Montgomery.

With a hobby like photography, practice really makes perfect (and habit). So I encourage all of the starting photographers out there to continue to pick up that beautiful camera of yours and find your focus.

If you’re interested in booking a shoot with me, here is the link to my website! Go check it out!

https://memoriesbymckaylie.myportfolio.com

What I hope to bring to this blog:

Like I said earlier, I am a self-taught photographer and with this blog I plan to help other aspiring photographers by sharing my story and some things I wish I would have known as I was starting out. I will also share some cute ideas to spice up your social media feeds with DIY Photoshoots and some tips that will help you when working with clients.

Along with learning some neat tricks you can use during the shoot with your client, I also plan on sharing some editing tutorials and tips to make your photos unique and high quality.

Stay tuned!