My name is Cassie Eggen, and I'm a freelance photographer in Houston, TX. I've worked with a variety of clients for the past 7 years. I specialize in engagement sessions and portrait photography, and I strive to make each shoot as comfortable and enjoyable for my clients as I can.
Some History:
Back in 2009, my dad purchased a new camera and handed me his "old" Nikon D50 with an 18-55mm kit lense. "Play with it," He told me. And I did. I started taking photos of my friends and family, figuring out with each picture how light and shadow affected my photos. I threw myself into learning all about the mechanics of a DSLR camera and how it worked. I quickly became fascinated with photography. I used a film camera for a short time, to really gain an understanding of how light affects the film, and thus producing a picture: good or bad. In early 2011, I went to New York on a school trip and found that while walking down Times Square, I fell in love with the colors and lights and how they affected my camera. Everything was so vivid! I loved every minute. From that moment on, I was hooked.
New York, 2011 - Nikon D50, F/10, 23mm, 1/320, 1600 ISO
History continued...
I learned fairly quickly that a high ISO produced noise in my photos, and I had no idea what Lightroom even was. I had learned Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop in school, but I had no idea what batch editing was, or even how photographers could spend so much time and effort editing each photo in Lightroom. It wasn't until I learned how to properly use my apeture, shutter speed and ISO to produce exactly the photos that I was looking for. I lost a bit of faith in myself and my work around 2012 when I shipped off to university to study music (another passion of mine).
Photography became a hobby, more than a passion. I upgraded to my dad's D80 when he purchased his full frame camera, and I found that I didn't like it as much as the D50. I fell into a little bit of a lull, only doing jobs when there was a payment involved. I found myself lost, forgetting about my passion for light and color. That was until I went to Paris, the city of lights! Of course, how could you not fall back in love? I saw the Eiffel tower and my love to photography was instantly back.
Paris, France 2014 - Nikon D80, F/1.8, 50.4mm, 1/200, 1000 ISO
I was satisfied with my work in Paris that I decided to pick back up and start photography again. However, I found myself longing. The D80 didn't do exactly what I wanted it to do. The only problem was, I didn't have enough money to purchase a better camera. So, I stuck with my cropped-sensor D80 for about 3 more years. That was, until I found myself in the Rocky Mountains of Glacier National Park in Montana. I took pictures of everything, animals, the mountains, lakes, people, you name it! I found myself extremely frustrated when I uploaded the photos and the pictures weren't what I wanted. The pictures were blurry, the edges weren't crisp, and I found myself angry instead of disheartened. I vowed then that I would purchase a new camera and keep going, keep pushing to make my work better.
I found after several months of cooling off, I took a look at my Montana photos (from the D80) with Lightroom and found that, no matter the camera, a good photographer can capture the moment using any tools he or she has. I found myself wishing I hadn't been so frustrated with my work in Montana, and wished that I had spent more time developing the photos, than just pushing them away as "bad work."
Glacier National Park, Montana 2017 - Nikon D80, F/4, 35mm, 1/250, 320 ISO
Glacier West, Montana 2017 - Nikon D80, F/4, 35mm, 1/2500, 320 ISO
Glacier National Park, Montana 2017 - Nikon D80, F8, 35mm, 1/1250, 320 ISO
After my trip to Montana, I was determined to get better at my work. That's when I purchased the D7000 Nikon, and "borrowed" my dad's 35mm, 50mm and 85mm lenses. I sought out friends and family to build my portfolio. I shot most of the pictures on this site with the D7000, but that soon became too weak for what I was wanting. Then, in 2018, I started using the Nikon D610 full-frame camera, and BOY did it make a difference. I developed my skills in Lightroom and Photoshop to enhance the photos I take, using the camera as my main point of capture. I try to get my photos as close to perfect in camera as I can, then using Lightroom to enhance only. I ended up finding that I loved the crushed colors style, using lights to enhance my photos in new and exciting ways.
Michelle 2017 - Nikon D7000, F/2, 35mm, 1/80, 1600 ISO
Jamie and Jackie 2017 - Nikon D7000, 35mm, F/2.5, 1/80, 1000 ISO
Kyra 2017 - Nikon D7000, 35mm, F/2, 1/100, 400 ISO
Anyway, that's me! I'm excited to be on this journey, finding beautiful scenery, artistic moments and capturing a lot of laughter. I hope you enjoy!
Cassie Eggen 2018 - Nikon D7000, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/60, 1250 ISO