One spouse, two businesses and endless creativity.

"I do not do background photography. I just love the feel of being outside and in a natural environment to capture these families," stated Autumn Samen, who did photography as a hobby for 13 years before starting her business, Trunks Photography.

Samen classifies herself as a naturalist photographer, meaning that she primarily shoots outdoors, though the mother of three does make a few exceptions for special events, like births and military homecomings.

Yet, for this military spouse, the photography business goes beyond cultivating an interest; her husband has plans to transition out of the Army in 2014, making her income all the more important. Currently, an estimated 26 percent of military spouses run their own business.

"I want to be able to pull in enough to cover the loss of BAH and still work from home," explained Samen, who has been stationed with her husband and sons at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the last three years. "So I began the photography business.

"I have non-military and military families that are loyal clients at the moment," she explained. "I also host monthly $5 sessions in order to give back to the community."

Her popular $5 sessions are quite a steep discount, since a normal session is $60. The $5 Sessions actually originated as free sessions with the option of getting the photos on a CD for a $5 fee, but when she was left waiting for no-shows during her Easter sessions, she switched it to a nominal $5 to at least cover the price of gas and her time away from her own family.

Trunks Photography is also offering a summer-long special of $40 sessions - for every appointment, not just once a month - through the end of August.

In case being behind the lens wasn't enough of a business venture, Samen also works as an event planner at her other company, Trunks. Whether it's large-scale baby showers for multiple moms, personal baby reveal parties where parents announce the bun-in-the-oven's gender or parties to celebrate a toddler's birthday or an older child's graduation, Samen has done it all.

Following Trunks on Facebook can also give followers weekly ideas for vacations and short getaways, which are her passion. Hence why the story behind her businesses' collective name is two-fold and refers not only to her affinity for elephants, but is also an obvious allusion to using "trunks" as luggage.

To book a photography session with Samen, check out www.facebook.com/trunksphotography and for more information on her event-planning services, visit www.facebook.com/Trunksllc or call (253) 442-7285.