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PHC alumna Christine McDonald (CLA, '16) owns and runs a successful photography business, Captured by CM. She attributes her business’s success first to the Lord and second to the instruction she received at PHC.
Her interest in photography was first piqued in the 9th grade: “The moment I held my first DSLR camera on a mock trial road trip, I knew that I needed to learn everything I could about this camera I was holding, and it took off from that point,” McDonald said.
Officially starting her photography business in 2010, McDonald has maintained it through the present.
When it came to choosing where to study after high school, she felt torn between PHC and a closer school in her home state of California. But after watching the Teen Camp counselors’ conduct while at PHC's Teen Leadership Summer Camps, she felt like the choice was easy.
“I saw who they were, how they acted, the way they carried themselves, and how they really lived out Christ to us campers. And I was sold at that moment because I knew I wanted to be one of them,” McDonald remembers. She believed attending PHC would help her become both grounded in her faith and a well-educated person. McDonald said, "That was the best marriage that I could conceive of for a college education."
McDonald studied Classical Liberal Arts, a degree she felt was broad enough to fit well with her diverse and varied interests. 
She graduated in 2016, getting married a month later. She worked a variety of marketing jobs while her husband, Ryan, attended law school. Today, she juggles being a mom of three kids under five and running her photography business.
As of 2020, McDonald noted an uptick in business, a change she attributes to her making the switch from shooting weddings to her preferred genre of family portraits.
"As a mom myself, I realized that capturing those moments was very important, and something you can't rewind back in time to go get," McDonald recalls.
Whatever occasion she takes photos for, she tries to capture what is going on both outside and inside. “When I take photos of people, I try my best to show the joy that they have within them, and I believe that joy comes from the Lord,” McDonald said. “I really want everyone to feel super comfortable and happy in themselves in front of the camera.”
To run an effective business, McDonald emphasized how important customer service is. McDonald said, "If you create a really good experience for your clients before, during, and after the photo session, then you've just created the best possible advocate for your business." Living in a close-knit community like PHC, McDonald said, helped hone her interpersonal skills.
Generally, McDonald thinks PHC helped to prepare her to deal with life’s challenges. “I believe to run an effective business as a sole owner and operator, you have to be a well-rounded person or have a broad skill set for things to run smoothly and profitably. And PHC does offer a very well-rounded education,” McDonald said.
Specifically, McDonald noted how important it is to be constantly evolving as a person and as a business.
“Something Dr. Farris said at freshman orientation that caught my attention was that everyone sitting in the room was there because they were lifelong learners and that our love of learning would keep us going through PHC and beyond," McDonald explained. "And I've found that to be true… Just wanting to learn more for the sake of learning has definitely helped me continue the business to the point that it's at right now.”
Though she is happy with where her business is today, one day, when her kids are older, she hopes to expand to shooting weddings again, hoping to reach her goal of shooting a wedding in all 50 states.
For more information on Christine McDonald and her photography, check out her website: https://capturedbycm.com
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Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.
