Meet Allix Ruby! {Young Creatives}

I remember fan-girling over how adorable Allix and her husband were when they got married. Then I remember squealing when she photographed Jasmine Baucham’s wedding. I’ve since just loved all of her work in general and was so excited when she agreed to let me feature her! Enjoy getting to know this lovely lady! I definitely did.

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Who are you? Hi! I’m Allix Ruby, a 20 year old Texas born and raised girl but I recently moved with Trevor, my husband of almost 2 years, to the adorable city of Alexandria, Louisiana. Our love story is my favorite in all its craziness. The most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen resides on my left hand and reminds me everyday how dazzled and humbled I am to be his…still can’t believe he gave me a ruby and asked me to be one! I am a dreamer, a rambler, a big thinker, an old Soul. My head is full of words, my heart is full of music, and my world is full of photographs. I spend way too many waking hours behind a computer screen, simultaneously editing photos and watching Netflix. I’m a lot quieter in person than people imagine from my online presence but the “firecracker” personality that most expect is there too once you get to know me. I write maximum length Instagram captions, prefer to be barefoot, and overthink almost everything. One thing I’ll never get tired of thinking about is the One who not only gave me my passion for life, my ability to create, my inclination to love but also the very breath in my lungs. I have been bought with a price.

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be? I’ve never been outside of the U.S. so my list of dream destinations is might long. But my number one? New Zealand. My favorite color is green and when I think of NZ I just imagine copious amounts green and glorious beauty.

What do you do? What’s your creative passion?I am a nationwide lifestyle and love photographer which is just a fancy way of saying I photograph a lot of weddings and portraits all over the country. I’m beginning my fourth year of shooting weddings full time and the wonder of it all is still not lost on me. I cry at all the happy moments, squeal loudly at the beauty, and genuinely feel very connected to my clients. I hope as long as I’m a wedding photographer I have the ability to be “friend” not just “vendor” to the sweet people I work for. I share such deep moments of the beginning of their story as one and so it just feels natural to be excited and invested in the pages and parts and episodes that follow. 

What are three words you’d use to describe yourself?  The words that come to mind in these situations always seem cliche don’t they? ;) I mean we all feel like we’re “creative” and “passionate”, right? But I guess sentimental, sincere, and analytical make me think of “me.” I’m a jumbled mix of thinker and feeler. 

How did you discover your creative passion?  I’ve always been drawn towards creativity. I’ve been a writer since I was very young — book attempts and poems and whatnot. I’ve always been about story telling and expressing myself. But as far as discovering my passion for photography, that came gradually! I didn’t always want to be a photographer. Unless you call that disposable camera I got when I was seven that printed an NSync border on every picture a “prophetic omen.” ;) Really the first time I did anything photography related was a 6th grade 4-H class. Fast forward a couple years and I was 13 years old, attending a new church where most of my new friends, several years older than me, had nice DSLR cameras. In a desperate urge to fit in, I strove to take the best pictures I could with my tiny Olympus point and shoot. Somewhere in the midst of trying to be like them I found my own desire to make better and better art. When I stumbled upon and began following professional wedding photographer blogs in 2009 I was hooked. I knew photographing people, preserving memories, telling their stores in a beautiful way is what I wanted to do with my life. In 2013, at 17, I shot my first wedding. Now, nearly 40 weddings behind me, I’m more in love with it than ever.

What is your favorite part about what you do?  By far realizing and being told the magnitude of what my photos mean to my clients. Being able to observe intimate moments in people’s lives is beautiful in and of itself…but capturing and preserving those moments to keep is a powerful thing and I am constantly blown away by.

What is your wildest dream? Growing old with my husband and raising children with him. It may not sound wild but the experience of loving so deeply is miraculous and nothing short of a taste of Heaven.

What is one piece of advice you wish you’d been given five years ago? Slow down. Enjoy the now. Stop running ahead in your mind because everything you’re wishing and dreaming for will be there before you know it…different than you expected, usually better than you expected. I adore being married and photographing weddings full time…5 years ago little 15 year old me would never have guessed all I was dreaming would come true. So I wish I wouldn’t have spent my time being so depressed thinking it would never happen. ;)

What’s the hardest thing you’ve been through and how have you grown from it? Career-wise, the hardest thing ever just happened to me a few months ago. One of my memory cards that held the entire reception of a wedding died after I got home but before I could get them off. I lost almost 1,000 pictures of memories that could not be recreated. It was incredibly devastating. It taught me not to take for granted the countless photos and shoots that end up unharmed. It taught me to thank God more fervently when everything works out. I also now shoot with a backup SD card because my Canon 5D Mark III has two memory card slots for dual-recording capability. I’m trying not to live in fear from now on but I was certainly humbled and reminded to pray more about each and every job I do!!