Hello!
Thank you for visiting my website, I'm honored you are here. I am one of the lucky ones in that I discovered a joyful spark and nurtured it carefully into a career. I am my own boss and I give myself 5 Stars. I actually have hundreds of stars now. I am a wonderful employee and a charm to work with. A daydreamer and palm tree high-fiver. My name is Rachel, and I am a photographer and an artist. These pages are filled with photos I have captured over the past 10 years for work, pleasure, and just the sheer joy of being creative.
My Story
My name is Rachel Heimerman. I was born on a Wednesday night in May, on a full moon, into a family of Artists. My Dad is a master carpenter with all the woodshop accessories, my Mother is a glassblower, and my two sisters are creative as well. The family motto growing up was something along the lines of "Oh, do you like that? Here are all the things to make something similar to that thing you like" (ie: like the time we spent 2 days practicing writing our names on grains of rice with a fine point sharpie) It was fun, we are loud and random, and very creative - what's not to love?
I attended Texas Tech University and graduated in 2010 with a BFA in Photography and a BA in Psychology. During my time here I spent one fabulous summer abroad in London and took an Architectural Darkroom Photography class. I absolutely loved it. I would just hop on and off the tube all day, like a little mole exploring the tunnels, and then I would pop out to take 15 photos, walk 6 blocks, find a treat or a coffee, then eventually run into another tube station and meander back to the downtown flat.
After college, I spent a year in the Dallas hospitals doing newborn photography. The trick is to have the baby in a tiny milk coma. Parents continually tell me that I am a very patient person as they watch me meticulously pose the fingertips and toes of their sleeping baby - it's not really about a patience level for me, it’s about loving my craft and taking the time to set up the scene. It may only take 1/100 of a second to actually "take" a picture, but I want the picture and everything in it to be up to my standards. So I wait for the baby to sink into that relaxed sleep then gently stretch out the tiny fingers. If I’m lucky, there’s a happy sibling nearby that we can scooch up to the baby for a few frames.
I then spent 3-ish years working mostly for a combo of other photography companies as a corporate/event/wedding photographer. This was like grad school for me as I learned how to do this style of photography successfully. I have photographed hundreds of corporate training sessions, thousands of headshots, keynote speakers, directing and photographing a 500-person last-minute group shot request, game nights, karaoke and trivia, and any idea the event they threw my way. Eventually, I started booking my own gigs and have grown a life from there. I have shot several multi-day events at top hotels and convention centers in Chicago, DFW, Texas, Nashville, TN, Beverly Hills, L.A., San Diego, CA, Denver, CO, around Las Vegas and Flordia a few times, and, Ohio, and D.C. Is it annoying to read another person’s lists of cities visited? Yea, I was bored typing it. Whatever, it’s my website. This is what I do currently. People like to fly me places so I can take pictures of their events. It’s fantastic, and I’m lucky to have clients who make a point to invite me back. I have photographed and listened to hundreds of speakers who are making a real difference in the world. I have heard great panel sessions with intelligent debate conversations. I have learned about new advances in medicine and while most of it goes over my head, the passion is still documented. There are many many stages still filled with leaders and brave storytellers. It’s very inspiring. I am quite good at this type of photography and have always had positive reviews from the clients I have worked with. (Well at least from the ones who continue to hire me. I’m not the right photographer for everyone. Which is totally cool, it’s just business. Go have a happy event/life without me.)
In my mid-twenties, I also worked for other local photographers as a second shooter in the wedding industry. I have easily shot over 300 weddings since I graduated college. I have photographed big weddings, small weddings, Christian weddings, Hindu weddings, Pakistani weddings, Vietnamese weddings, costume-themed weddings, LBGTQ+ weddings, outside weddings, inside weddings, courthouse weddings, barn weddings, international weddings, weddings down by the beach, weddings in a park, weddings high up in the mountains and next to a lake, and once in the ruins of an old civilization. I’ve photographed weddings in downtown warehouses and in fancy ballrooms. I’ve photographed rooftop weddings during sunset and weddings in beautiful gardens and vineyards. I could make a children’s book about all the types of weddings I have photographed, with all the types of people and how they celebrate - I love photographing weddings, I love the whole day. I also love cake. I grew up with Disney movies, and I am a sucker for those googly eyes. You can see when a couple has those googly eyes for each other, it’s endearing. And what is wonderful about most religions and ceremonies, is that everyone has the same core values they teach their children. Be nice, be good, and help those who need help. Many photographers swear they will never shoot another wedding, but it’s quite simple, you just follow the newlyweds around and photograph whatever is happening in their general area. I know my camera inside and out, so I can do some light staging or follow the organic moments. It is more laid back on my end versus my corporate photography life, I have the freedom to make bad jokes and get people to laugh. My favorite instruction is I say "Look at each other and fake laugh" because even if they laugh quietly, it always turns into a real laugh, and that’s when I snap the picture. I could write a whole page on my awkward camera instructions and jokes I say during my sessions - but I won’t. I will save that in-person magic for when you book me.
At 27, I was a high school photography teacher in Texas. That was a good year, I loved it. It was hard and new. Within a week I was background checked and cleared to teach in a public school. I had 150 students to teach photography to, plus the extras who wandered into my room because "they heard I was cool." Who was I to kick them out!? I had a bit of imposter syndrome at the start but found my way. I just kept inventing projects I thought would be fun. One week it was cold so I had them bring in board games to practice documenting details and a story. There’s a lot of emotions in board games. They beat me pretty regularly at chess for weeks and weeks. I pumped up the drama by having only 2 studio lights on. That was a fun time. I think they hated/loved the Kaledisocpe project the most. That one was an elaborate Photoshop idea where they cut out a triangle from one of their photos and copied/pasted/rotated it to build a kaleidoscope-type image. I was right, they turned out pretty fabulous. Like moths to a flame, these teenagers flocked to the softbox lights to take selfies. First it was just 5 minutes at the start of class, then 10 and 15, then at the end of class too. It was actually pretty funny and the photos turned out cute and memorable for them. But I had to humble their egos a bit, the selfies were about to hit that cringle level. So they walked into class one day and I had them google, “Scotch tape portraits” and I watched a wave of horror come over their faces, “Miss…is this what we are doing today.” I cackled and said “Yesssss!” I’m surprised I didn’t get a call from the office about that one. The students soon realized it was super funny and had fun capturing these portraits and roasting each other. And they got to pick which person taped them! (I did have an alternative project for those who weren’t feeling it.) It was a one-year experience for me. I finished my year and I gave the principal a “thank you for the job but I need to move on” mini bunt cake tower as I told him I wouldn’t be renewing my contract. Two hours before I was asking the Nothing Bunt Cakes counter girl if they had any decorations that say “I’m Quitting. Goodbye”? It will forever be a funny moment in my heart. I had to go. It was great for my creativity, but the ocean was calling me, literally begging for me to come hang out. From that job, I met the art teacher, who to this day is one of my best friends and the most hilarious people I’ve ever met. My childhood best friend quit her job around the same time, so we went and backpacked around Europe for 6 weeks. When I returned I moved to Chicago and experienced months of winter. The feeling of -3 degrees is wild! I would use any photoshoot downtown as an excuse to also wander around and listen to audiobooks and podcasts. I love Millennium Park. How can you not high-five your reflection in the bean and take a dizzy selfie underneath? And within another year I was again packing up my Jeep for the West Coast. I road-tripped with my sister for 2 weeks and we took our time to see the sights. I remember the moment we popped out at the end of Malibu, and the whole Pacific Ocean was facing me. I did it, I made it to the edge of America. It was a big feeling. Then I turned left and went south a bit. And now I live in sunny California. Based in L.A.,
Years later, I am a total Cali girl with pink hair and roller skates.
Thank you. You are awesome and I hope your day is awesome. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for snooping around. Click on like 4 other galleries for a bit, help boost the algorithm for me will ya? Thank you. I also have some rad sweatshirts for sale now. You’re going to want to check those out too. They are very cool and I change out the designs somewhat monthly and usually on a whim. Buy it now before I change my mind and discontinue it! Ok, see ya later.
