April Buffington spends the majority of her time looking at the world through her Nikon D5000 viewfinder. The 25-year-old Southern University student runs her own photography business and takes sports photos for The Advocate, a daily newspaper in Baton Rouge, La.

She first began photography at the age of 5 when her grandfather placed his old camera in her hands.

“I remember taking a picture of my brother posing with a Coke in his hand,” Buffington said. “My grandfather took a picture of me taking the photo.”

Her grandfather’s hobby soon became Buffington’s dream. Growing up in Baton Rouge,  she began working at the age of 16 at a local Eckerd in the photo lab. She’s never minded hard work and was always working toward the goal of becoming a photographer.

April went on to get her associate’s degree in entertainment technology from a community college in Baton Rouge. During her time there, one of her closest friends was fatally shot. Feb. 9. 2009, April received the devastating call.

“Losing him took a part of me,” Buffington said. “But it made me want to focus on my career and get out of Baton Rouge.”

She decided to take charge of her life’s path. She quit her job at the local Capitol One bank and took the first steps in entrepreneurship by establishing her company, AB’s Photography.

Buffington’s ideal job is to continue with sports photography. Already freelancing for The Advocate, April hopes to one day work for The Associated Press.

“I walked by faith and I asked God to guide me,” Buffington said. “I overcame and didn’t allow my past to predict my future.”

An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Buffington in one instance.

– Brittany Dandy

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