We had the good fortune of connecting with Tori Lorraine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tori, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for your children?
I feel like the most important thing I’ve done to impact my children is I’ve gathered up my courage and found a career that I’m passionate about: Photography. I am a mom of 3, but I was also a lot of other things before I took the risk in becoming a full time photographer. I was good at a lot of jobs, but they were only “jobs”. They didn’t make me eager to start the work day. It wasn’t until I decided to muster up the courage to go all-in and pursue photography as a career. Don’t get me wrong, it was not an easy road. There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (literally) that went into Tori Lorraine Photography, but I had the passion. I was not about to give up. My kids are still at a young age, and when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up they still have that child innocence about them. An astronaut. A singer/ mail “girl”. Part Spiderman- part dinosaur. As they grow older, I hope they see that you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up. You can find something that you are passionate about. Everyone has courage, but it’s up to you to pull all your courage together and not give up even when the road gets bumpy. A little blood, sweat, and tears will make it all worth it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a little bit of a Jane of all trades. I love everything about photography. Black and white or color. 35mm film or digital. Traditional family portraits or pop art pieces. I love doing it all. Just having my camera in my hand gets me excited for my day. My work is a wide range of family portraits, pop art prints, fashion, and branding. What I feel that sets me apart from everyone else is my attention to details. I love getting all the little details in shots. The different textures and pops of color. Whether it be a bright blue color of a client’s eyes, the condensation drops rolling down a glass of an Old Fashioned, or a vintage button on a fashion piece. My eye catches the different details and I build the rest of the photo shoot off them. I think outside of the box and catch the different angles. I don’t mind getting up on a ladder or down on the ground on my knees to get the angle. I do what it takes to get the shot. What makes me proud as a photographer is having some of my prints hanging up in someone’s home. When I sold my first print, I’m not going to lie. I cried. I cried the happiest of tears. They were the “I can’t believe I just did that” kind of tears. I still get choked up just thinking about it. Everyone deserves to have that feeling at one point in their life because I will never forget that moment. How I got to that moment was not easy. It took a lot of frustration, relationship fights, sacrifice, and late nights to get there… But I got there. If I didn’t have all my family and friends by my side pushing me, Tori Lorraine Photography would have had a different story. They helped me learn that I am stronger and more creative than I give myself credit for. Which leads me to the answer for “what lessons you’ve learned along the way”: surround yourself with positive people. Whether it be friends and family or peers within your profession, surround yourself with people who inspire you. Challenge yourself to learn new techniques. You need positivity, inspiration, and the hunger to learn to grow more into your craft. At the end of the day, I’m really just a gal with purple hair behind the camera that loves what she does and it shows. Tori Lorraine Photography is my passion and I take pride in my work. I’m excited for the future and looking forward to capturing life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love food, and Houston has the BEST food spots. I’ve lived in different cities all throughout Texas, and Houston by far has the best food I’ve ever tasted. Jenni’s Noodle House has the best pho I’ve ever had. I’ve been to each location, and they are all amazing. Roostar Vietnamese Grill has the best banh mi. My favorite is the grilled pork banh mi with the pate added on. Maine-ly Sandwiches is completely mindblowing. Their lobster rolls, crab rolls, and salt water taffy leave me speechless and always wanting more. Ramen Tatsu-Ya is the perfect ramen lunch date spot. Bollo Woodfire Pizza has my favorite pizza: shrimp scampi with thin sliced lemons. Again, I love food. Getting museum memberships to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the NASA Johnson Space Center was the best choice my family made once we moved to Houston. HMNS has the best and most memorable exhibits. I could spend all day in the Morian Hall of Paleontology and the Hall of Ancient Eygpt. NASA Johnson Space Center has a special place in my heart because my family is a bunch of space nerds. To see one of the three remaining actual Saturn V rockets in person, it’s completely breathtaking. My favorite place to stay is The Woodlands Resort. The whole resort is so relaxing, you don’t want to leave the grounds. It’s definitely my little family’s summer vacation spot. The lazy river, having drinks pool side, watching movies in the pool in the evenings, making s’mores at the firepits. I couldn’t ask for a better vacation spot. Houston is such a great and diverse city. You really would need a week long trip to soak it all in.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family. They have been my biggest fans from day 1. They have been there to cheer me on at my art show galleries, to be a shoulder to ugly cry on when I felt like giving up, and make me coffee while I stay up late working on edits. I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for them. A shoutout also goes out to my friends. They have helped me set up for art shows and carry out my crazy photo shoot visions. I tend to get a little carried away with photography ideas, and they help keep me grounded. My support system is everything to me. I don’t know how I got to be so lucky to have all these incredible people in my life.

Website: http://torilorraine.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ToriLorrainePhotography/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ToriLorrainePhotography
Other: torilorrainephotography@gmail.com

Image Credits
All photos taken by Tori Lorraine Photography