Originally from Lancaster, CA, Sylvia joined the Marine Corps after high school and was blessed to fall into the photography occupation. She was a Marine Combat Photographer for 4 years and was one of the first female Marines to be implemented in an all-male division unit. This is where the foundation of her photography career began. More than 20 years later, she has been overseas and across the country photographing amazing people and places.

Sylvia is married to a retired Marine and has two adult children. Cyanne and Kayla. Kayla Is attending UNCW for social work and Cyanne graduated with a Bachelors in Biology from Fordham University, Bronx, NY. Sylvia and her husband enjoy spending time at the beautiful beaches nearby and snuggling on their fur babies Loki, Missy Girl and Fifi.

 

She officially began her business in 2000, right after her service in the Marine Corps. At this point she was newly married with a baby in tow. She began in Eugene, Oregon and has since traveled across the country as well as overseas to Okinawa, Japan. Now that they are a retired family, they settled in Jacksonville and this is when she decided to open her first brick and mortar studio in 2020, RP Studios, LLC.

 

Not knowing what the future held for everyone with the pandemic, it was so exciting to open the doors to not just her clients, but for other creatives to come in and use the studio as their own. Once the restrictions eased up towards the end of 2020, she created an event for families to come and enjoy their time as a family in a safe environment. The Winter Wonderland Experience has become an anticipated event every year. In 2023, she was honored to be named Diverse Entrepreneur of the Year by the Jacksonville Onslow Chamber of Commerce during their Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Day luncheon held October 4, 2023.

 

Sylvia specializes in studio and natural light portrait photography. She offers portrait services for high school seniors and personal branding, professional headshots and product photography for business professionals. She also hosts a monthly co-working events for small businesses, photography meetups for photographers in the area and rents her studio to other creatives. 

 

To contact Sylvia, fill out a consultation form on her website, www.rpstudiosllc.com, call/text at (252) 643-6852 or connect on social media; Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @rpstudios_jaxnc.

 

About Onslow Beach

 

Onslow Beach is a 7.5 mile stretch of beach located on Camp Lejeune. In the past, it has been used for practicing amphibious landings, but is currently used as a recreational area for the Camp Lejeune community. They offer various rental lodging units, an RV Campground and much more. For additional information, contact their reservation line at (910) 358-5044.