Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Hays.
Hi Lindsay, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Going on vacation with my family, my mom would let me use her film camera to take photos of the trip. Only problem was we never packed enough extra film rolls. I was very good at using up the whole roll at one location and not having anything else to capture rest of the trip with. As I got older the passion was oftentimes left behind due to time constraints. However, at the end of each school year it would be relighted to capture memories of my friends going into summer break, which I would greatly cherish. To say I have storage containers of old photos is an understatement. It wasn’t until I was out of college that I was gifted a point and shoot to take pictures of my new dogs I adopted. Boy did I think I had really progressed in my photography experience. I had an SD card and way more capacity for photos before I would have to offload them onto my computer. Once I got my first DSLR, that was when it was a game changer for me and the passion really started firing. My memory cards were large and my intrigue was growing. That is when I started finding my passion for nature and wildlife photography. I always knew it was a good trip if I filled up my SD card before I arrived back home. In the past few years I have really started to enjoy taking photos for other people. I love to capture them in an authentic way that is not altered or overly posed. I want them to have photos that is how the world sees them., I am thankful my friends have trusted me with capturing the births of their children, maternity photos, engagement photos, family photos, holiday cards, pre-masectomy photos and performance photos to name a few. I am always open to new ideas and photo opportunities that are out of the box.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with anything in life, it has not always been a smooth road. When using film cameras you are always limited by the small amount of photos you are able to take and will oftentimes have no more room and miss out on some photo opportunities. I have had batteries die at the most inconvenient moments. I have had SD cards been damaged or corrupted at the worst time. I have broken a couple of cameras on vacation and was left to using my phone for rest of the trip. It is also hard to get others to trust you with their photos if they are not someone you already know.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My everyday job is working at The University of Kansas Healthcare System supervising the Referral Testing department. What I basically do is supervise a team that is responsible for getting samples sent out to Reference Labs that are not able to be performed In House. Not all testing that the Drs. order are readily available to be performed on site. I have a great team who does an amazing job on a daily basis. Through their recommendations, this year I won the highest laboratory award our system has, the Overall All Star award. I am very proud of this award and honored my employees think so highly of me. I am a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist and most of my career has been working in infectious disease doing Molecular Diagnostic testing. COVID, yup, I was in the thick of that testing for Moderna’s clinical trials. H1N1, yup, saw that happening before it hit the media. Enterovirus D68, yup, saw those results coming through before the city freaked out that children were getting polio like symptoms.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Just have fun. Have fun at whatever you do. There will always be good days and bad days. Learn from both kinds of days. We can always learn something even from the darkest depth. Also if something is no longer fun or serving you let it go! No one has time to settle or not be happy. Mostly do not care what others think, you just do you.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mannymanatee and @midwest_mermaid_photography
