I've been a filming and photographing since I was a child. My first camera was our family's Sony home video camera with the little ribbon tape that you could transfer to a VHS. I was constantly taking videos of my little brother, doing skits and making funny videos. I never thought I'd grow up to be a photographer or filmmaker. I never thought that this career would give me such peace and joy and allow me & Michael to serve our couples and community well.
In May 2018, I was given the opportunity to travel with a family from Chicago to Maui, Hawai'i to photograph their family vacation. I had never heard of a family taking a photographer along with them! Michael and I met this family through a St. Jude 5k in Chicago. We became Facebook friends and the mom posted about wanting a photographer to join them on their family vacation. She herself if a photographer! But this time she wanted to be in front of the lens WITH her husband and daughter so she could enjoy her very own portraits.
The moment I came home from this trip, I bought my first course in filmmaking: Full Time Filmmaker by Parker Walbeck. This changed our lives forever. Now we take multiple courses every year to improve our business and serve our clients to the best of our abilities. We will never be the best photographers and filmmakers in the world, but we give EVERYTHING we can to everyone we serve. We promise to have fun with all our clients and to treat everyone as a million dollar client. I believe God called us to do this so we could give people memories of a lifetime.
Back then I would've told you that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was. But because of that trip, I was inspired to leave my career as a dental hygienist and start LaBanca Productions, where we now serve clients all over the country. We've met so many people and have been blessed with endless opportunities. We've even had couples travel to Chicago from the east and west coast just to have us take their photos and videos!
Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with us. Thank you to everyone who believed in us since day 1. To everyone who has been a client. To everyone who hasn't been a client, but still promoted our names to their friends who then told their friends about us. I can't express the gratitude I feel in my heart for all of you.
Alyssamay