A Birdie Ridge Story

For the last several years, my business has been Micah D. Photography.

And it still is.

That name carries seven years of late nights, busy weekends, lessons learned the hard way, more photos than I could count, and so many people who walked in as clients and somehow left as a friend. It holds a younger version of me who asked her parents for a camera at 17 without really knowing where it would take her, and the business I've slowly built into something I never could have imagined back then.

I didn't want to leave any of that behind.

If anything, I wanted to bring a little more of where I come from into the work I've built. I wanted the brand to hold a piece of why I do what I do — not just my name, but the people, places, and memories that made me who I am.

So now you'll see:

micah d. photography

a birdie ridge story

The first tells you who.

The second tells you why.

Birdie is for my Memaw, who loved hummingbirds and always seemed to have a camera nearby. To know her was to love her. She loved people deeply, and she had a way of making the people around her feel loved right back.

She was always taking pictures. The big moments, of course, but also everything in between. The people sitting around the table, the kids running around, the ordinary days that probably didn't seem all that important at the time. If the people she loved were there, that seemed to be reason enough to pull out her camera.

When I was younger, I didn't think much about it. It was just, here's Memaw again with her camera. Looking back now, I think she was quietly teaching me something I wouldn't understand until much later — that a life is made up of little moments, and those moments are worth remembering.

Now I look at those photographs differently. They are a little piece of her. I get to see the people she loved, the places we were, and little pieces of our family exactly as they were. She had a way of noticing the people and moments around her and making sure they were worth keeping.

Because one day, the people we love won't be standing in the same places. The kids won't be that little anymore. The house won't sound the same. The ordinary moments we never thought we'd miss will become the ones we would give anything to have back.

I think that's a big part of what I carry with me now. The way she loved people, the way she cared for them, and the way she found something worth remembering in everyday life.

When I see a hummingbird, I think of her. And when I pick up my camera, I think about all the little things she would have thought were worth a picture.

Ridge is a little piece of home.

It comes from the meanings connected through my family names — Medders, my maiden name, carries the meaning of meadow. Hamrick, my married name, is associated with home. And Naush, another family name, carries the meaning of ridge and is connected to the idea of being full of life.

But when I think about those names, I don't think about definitions.

I think about the people.

I think about the people who saw something in me before I really knew what I was capable of. The people who encouraged me to chase something I loved, even when there was no guarantee of where it would lead.

I think about my parents, who bought me my first camera when I was 17 and unknowingly sparked a fire that would become the biggest part of my life.

I also think about growing up watching both of my parents build businesses of their own. I had a front-row seat to what it looks like to work hard for something you believe in, to take pride in what you've built, and to keep showing up even when it isn't easy. Having them as examples of what it means to build something of your own gave me something to look up to long before I ever realized I might want to do the same.

My dad has always had a strong work ethic — he takes a lot of pride in what he does, and once he sets his mind to something, he doesn't give up on it. He shows up, works hard, and keeps going until the job is done. I think watching that all my life taught me that if something is worth doing, it's worth giving everything you have to it.

My mom has always shown me a different kind of strength. She's steady, determined, and the kind of person who gives her whole heart to whatever she does. She's spent so much of her life pouring herself into something she loves, and for her, it has always been about so much more than the work itself. She genuinely cares about the people she serves and the lives she gets to be a part of, and that care is a big part of what makes her so good at what she does.

My parents have always said, “If you do something you love, you'll never work a day in your life.”

I don't think I really understood just how much that would stick with me until I started building something of my own.

When I picked up that first camera, I don't think any of us knew where it would take me. But my parents believed in it anyway. They encouraged me to chase something I loved, and that support didn't stop with my parents and them buying me a camera.

I think about my whole family showing up for me in every way they can — sending referrals, sharing my posts, encouraging me, and always being in my corner. I could never put into words every little way they've supported me, but I see it in the way each of them shows up. My grandma is probably my biggest cheerleader. I hope everyone has one like her… they just can't have mine lol. My grandpa has shown me that hard work pays off — give it everything you have, and don't look back. I think some of that definitely rubbed off on me. My aunt is my hype girl, always giving me all the love and making sure I know she's in my corner. And my husband, bless him, is the shoulder I get to lean on through all of it — the stress, the overthinking, the imposter syndrome, and all the moments when I convince myself I'm not doing enough or I'm not good enough.

And that's just to name a few. There are so many people, so many little things, and so many moments of support that have gotten me here, and I hope they all know just how much it has meant to me. In their own ways, they've all had a hand in the person and photographer I've become. They've reminded me that I'm never doing this alone, and that no matter how far this business takes me, I'll always know where I come from and who is in my corner.

They didn't just support a business.

They supported me.

And that means more to me than I could ever put into a paragraph.

So much of who I am today is because of the people connected to those names. The way I love people. The way I care about the little things. The way I keep going. The way I believe in chasing something that makes you happy.

They are part of the reason I had the courage to pick up a camera in the first place, and they are part of the reason I'm still holding one seven years later.

My parents are building their home on a ridge on our family property, overlooking the meadows and pastures I grew up on — and now spend so much of my time photographing on. Somehow, even the land I photograph has become another way my family shows up in my work.

My parents are always sending me pictures of new spots they've found around the property, telling me about a pretty tree or a place they think would make a good photo. My dad has hauled in logs and rocks, cleared around trees, cleaned up little areas, and helped turn pieces of the property into places where I can bring people and create something beautiful.

Their fingerprints are on every photo I take there, in all the little things they've done to make those places what they are.

It's one of those things I don't think I fully appreciated when I first started taking pictures out there. Now, when I look at those photos, I don't just see the people in them. I see the land I grew up on. I see the places my parents helped me create. I see a little bit of home in the background.

So Ridge isn't just a place.

It's family. It's home. It's where I come from. It's the people who have helped me become who I am.

When I put those names and everything they represent together, something too perfect happened. And that's what makes Birdie Ridge feel like so much more than a name to me. It’s a way of carrying a little piece of the people who have had a hand in getting me here.

I thought I was just picking up a camera and taking pictures, it was always much more than that.

It’s my family. My home. The land I grew up on. The people who believed in me. The memories I never want to lose. Holding onto a little bit of home. Carrying the people I love with me. Noticing the things that won't always be here exactly as they are now. And now, this little thing I've built feels like a piece of everything that brought me here.

A little bit of where you come from. The people you love. The moments you don't want to forget. The things that make your life yours.

And if I'm lucky, maybe you'll find a little piece of yourself in it, too.

That’s a Birdie Ridge Story.

I hope you like it here.

Kick off your boots and stay awhile. 🤎