Amanda Mae Steele

The first time for anything can be pretty intimidating. I think it's more common than not to be reluctant when trying something new whether it's an exotic food, traveling to an unfamiliar country, parenting, or in this case, doing a maternity shoot. Cristina and I were both new at this - pregnancy for her and her husband, Andy, and capturing it for me! I was obviously very nervous about it since I had never done it, but they were both so gracious and chill which definitely to

When Nick and I were searching for our wedding photographer nearly seven years ago, we met with several different candidates. One of the photographers was a guy also named Nick; we didn't end up going with him but funny enough, months after (my) Nick and I were married, we discovered Nick and his family were our neighbors in the same townhome community in Valencia, CA. Small world! I often ran into Nick when I'd take Dino out running and we'd usually make small talk. I don't

I love words and conversation, so when I have a piece with a word that sparks a conversation that's a triple win. This one always gets a lot of interest and the conversation that ensues usually goes like this: "Ooh is that one of those Giving Keys?" "Umm... It's kinda like it but it's not one of the Giving Keys..." "Oh cool! So who gave it to you?" "Umm... (awkward laugh) no one. I gave it to myself." Great. So not only is it a knockoff, I also gave it to myself (I believe th