While Kate Duchene is driving to her next job, she feels nervous and stressed for what is to come.

She steps out of the car and gathers her equipment. Sighing deeply, she rings the doorbell and waits while a flood of memories comes back to her.

Duchene did not think that she would become a photographer, but rather an actress on stage.

While acting didn’t have the greatest employment opportunities, she still stayed with the arts. She was accepted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign arts program.

She took photography as one of her electives. She was one of 10 accepted into the photography program her sophomore year.

There was something hidden in these family photos she took that she did not realize.

She had an eye for composition.

She automatically set the main focus to the left or right without ever being told to do so.

The door opens and she is let in by the happy parents. She is introduced to her model, a beautiful baby boy.

She arranges her equipment and sets up the backdrop.

Anxiety is overwhelming her. Almost every time she gets a job, more jobs appear at the same time. Thoughts running through her mind, she poses the model and steps back, focusing in on the sleepy infant.

Duchene’s mindset is the quote “The act of taking a photograph is the embodiment of a prayer,” by Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

She grabs the camera in her hands and instantly feels better. Her hands gripping the side of the camera, she looks into the view frame. The lighting is perfect and she feels connected between herself and the model.

She snaps the shutter and feels a moment of pure bliss. A moment that can only be felt when she is behind the camera.

She pushes through anxiety just to feel that moment.