Hi! My name is Christine Blackard and I am the owner of Rustic Petal Photography. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself.

I was raised in once small-town Lansing, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago. I have lots of fond memories of those years, but the one I took most for granted is that delicious Chicago-style pizza. I grew up thinking all pizza taste that good!

After graduating high school, I was fortunate to find an opportunity to be trained as a wedding photographer, which I continued working for over thirteen years. At some point, I also went on to get training to become an Executive Assistant and landed a wonderful job at Leo Burnett and worked there for five years. My weeks consisted of commuting to Chicago and my weekends consisted of working at least one wedding per weekend, sometimes two.

I eventually met my husband and our lives were blessed with an adventure-seeking girl and a curious boy who are now young adults discovering life and all its wonders.

After my children were born, I left my Executive Assistant job to be home to raise them which eventually led to a decision to include homeschool, as well.

I have maintained my photography through the years by accepting fewer referrals that fit into family life, teaching photography with homeschool groups, leading workshops, and by taking many photos of my own children through the years, of course.

I'm excited to be using my photography experience and homeschool experience to teach future photographers how much fun photography is and how to use photography as a creative outlet. I also look forward to meeting more families and teens along the way to preserve their memories in the same loving manner that I've been able to preserve my own family photo story, with some very cool image twists.

Perhaps I'll see you along the way.

All the best,

Christine Blackard