By Meredith Haas ’24, editor

Life through a lens.

Sometimes, it’s a challenge for someone to find their niche. It wasn’t until coming to college that Emily Reaman, a junior speech-language pathology student, found hers.

Emily has found a true passion – and talent – in photography.

Her real entry into the world of photography started in high school when she began taking pictures at her younger sister’s volleyball games, but she may say she got a glimpse much earlier on.

“My mom had one of those little cameras that I feel like everyone had when they were young,” Emily said. “So, I played with that. That was when I was like 10 and then I stopped and probably didn’t pick it up again until I was like 17.”

Thank goodness she did.

It wasn’t until Emily came to LVC that her photography truly picked up. She got involved with photography club just for fun, but soon, it was photography club that started opening doors for her.

“I got here and soon after, one of the real LVC photographers couldn’t make an event and they asked me to do it because I was in photography club. I was like, ‘sure.’”

Flash forward a short period of time, and Emily has established herself as a reputable and talented photographer – one who now has an official role as an athletics photographer for LVC, a freelance photographer for LVC Marketing and the newly-elected president of photography club.

“I felt like I didn’t really have my ‘thing’ in high school and then I came to college and now I do.”

Emily covers a wide array of sports on campus, citing football as her absolute favorite to shoot. Yet she’d be happy to tell you that she enjoys photographing any sport she understands.

New to her list of sports to photograph is lacrosse, which she’s found herself to enjoy, despite some initial hesitancy.

“I played two years of golf at LVC. Golf is the most individualized team sport there is. There is no screaming, yelling or getting hype, so being able to be on the field as the guys run out was the first time I felt like ‘wow, this is awesome.’”

While Emily has made a name for herself as an LVC athletics photographer, she also has quite the side hustle going. Despite her young age, she’s already started her own business.

“It always feels awesome to tell people that I’m 21 and running my own business. My parents ran their own business, so I like to joke that it’s in my genes.”

Emily’s business, Emily Reaman Photography, focuses on portrait photography. She specializes in senior pictures, graduation shoots and family sessions, but she’s willing to accommodate to what a client asks of her.

 Starting this summer, she hopes to expand her business into equine photography, specifically rodeos and portraits with girls and their horses.

“I’ve had my horse for seven years and I only just got my pictures taken with him like last week. I want to be able to do that for other people.”

Spoken like a true photographer, Emily’s camera is a permanent fixture on her body – she takes it everywhere.

“I always have my camera with me so if it looks like something is gonna happen, it’s coming out.”

While she enjoys casual photography on her own time, it’s clear that Emily has a passion for capturing special moments. Whether that’s an athlete’s first goal, or the last time a player will step on the court, Emily wants to document it.

Despite the busy schedule that comes with owning a business and serving as an LVC photographer, she doesn’t seem to mind the chaos. When she’s not looking through the lens of a camera, you can find her riding her horse or riding four wheelers on the weekends – doing anything outdoors, really.

As a future speech-language pathologist, Emily was sure to note that all of the work she does with her photography can only benefit her in the future.

“I think that for a future working with children, the level of patience needed as a photographer has been helpful. Being in an accelerated program has encouraged me to be organized and manage my time well, just like I do with my business.”

Emily is proof that it’s never too late to find a passion, and it’s surely never too late to pursue it.