I’ve never had a pet guinea pig, but I do have several “guinea pigs” in my life. My main guinea pig is my sister, Emily. You see, when I decided I wanted to be a professional wedding and portrait photographer, I needed to practice. I didn’t go to college to be a photographer, so I needed my own “class.” So before I had the confidence to practice photography on tons of people, I had to start with just one person, and Emily always let me practice on her. Even now that I’m a full-fledged photographer, she always lets me try new things out on her.

So this is an ode to the guinea pigs, who get us started and let us practice on them and make them sit for hours while we study the different aperture and shutter speed settings, light and more. Below are my other guinea pigs: my other sister Amanda and her husband Kail, my friend Julie and her daughter Audrey, my nephew Forrest, nephew Kailan and my niece Draven. Thanks guinea pigs!