Photog Intro + Mills Creek Portrait

Hi, I’m Amber. And that’s my name because my dad says that’s what color I was when I was born. 

*pump the brakes* I won’t go that far back. ;) 

I fell in love with photography in middle school and MySpace is partly to blame. In high school, my friends would tease me and say I wasn’t allowed to touch the paints making the signs for homecoming, but I still considered myself a creative type. What I lacked in drawing and tracing, I felt deeply- I made up for in vision, vulnerability, and an eye that was specific to whatever subjective beauty I sought at the time. 

My senior year, my boyfriend (turned husband) gifted me my first DSLR camera for my birthday and I shortly after started an internship with (then) Teal Tizzy Photography where I learned the basics of photography as art. I learned how to shoot manual and started to develop my own creative eye. I second shot weddings and started to take on my own clients. 

When I left for college, I started styling shoots with my friends and begged them to be my models. When I became debilitatingly sick as a freshman with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), makeup and photography quickly became one of my only outlets. I burnt out fast. As a sick 19 year old I had no idea (or desire) to run a business. 

I continued to photograph people, places, and events that were important to me, at my own pace and for my own sake, up until 2022. 

Fall 2022 Mills Creek Portrait was born. 

And I wanted it to represent everything that I now hold so deeply- Family. Being true to yourself. And I just wanted it to feel like love. 

My husband's side of the family had a great man named Mills Wanless. We gave our first baby his (middle) name. The love and respect that our family and community had told us of Mills- we just knew it had to be carried on and it always felt like that was his name, even before he was born. 

The land that I primarily shoot on is family land, where my own little family is in the process of buying a chunk, and building where we will eventually have a forever home- to stay close to family and appreciate rural living.

The land that our family has is magical.



And it’s not just because of its stunning spring fed creek, soft wildflowers, or incredible trails. 

It’s magical because of the people, the generations, that I’ve had the honor of sharing it with. 

When I thought about naming my business… I wanted something that felt like home…that felt like love. Because I believe what is even more powerful than art shining through in photos, is love and emotion. 

I am so excited to share that feeling with you! I want to capture those sweet moments with the people that feel like love to you!