June 5, 2003
- No one ever succeeds by letting someone else dictate how they spend their time.
- I am the only one who knows where my limits are. I can't expect others to look out for me.
You know what? I really want to get into photography!
- I am the only one who knows where my limits are. I can't expect others to look out for me.
You know what? I really want to get into photography!
I am so interested!
That journal entry could very well have been the first acknowledgement of my interest in photography! It is interesting to look back and remember that time in my life. 22 years old, I had no kids, almost 2 years into my marriage, and still discovering what I wanted out of life.
I remember being perplexed because there were so many things I wanted to do and couldn't nail down one single thing to limit myself to. It was around this time that I determined it was not a bad thing to have many aspirations in life, I just needed to start with one, the rest could come later. Shortly before or after this journal entry (I can't remember), I had a photography art project for the creative arts school I was attending. I didn't like the way the face-on flash was making my pictures turn out, so I experimented and did my entire project with my flash turned off. I applied the little knowledge I had of using natural light and I also chose all black and white pictures to make my display that much more streamlined. That was just another step that peaked my curiosity. That winter I bought my first SLR (film) and it was a Nikon F65. It was a great place to start, but practicing on that thing cost me alot of money in film development!
In the summer of 2004, I was, again, pushed into learning my skill when my sister called me days before her wedding and said she was desperate for a photographer! Problem was, I was also the Matron of Honor! There are lots of things I would do differently if I could photograph that wedding over again, but the pictures turned out amazing considering my limited experience and very limited tools. I felt so much pressure on that bright, sunny day that I actually ended up with a migraine during the portraits and for the rest of the day.
I kept taking pictures with my SLR for the next couple of years as a hobby and in that time gave birth to my daughter - a great reason to take scores of pictures! But it was not until the summer of 2006 that I really became serious about photography. I fast-tracked my learning when I bought my digital SLR that August, a Nikon D70s. That camera was a dream. I started taking every opportunity available to exercise my photography skill. I knew I still had a long way to go in my photography (and I still do!), but I just loved that I could capture exactly what I pictured in my mind or what I saw with my own eyes.
I am so thankful that I took the steps I took many years ago to venture into the art of photography. It continues to be one of my favorite forms of creative expression. One thing I love about it is that there's always something different to take pictures of. Even if you try to recreate the same shot, there are so many variables that make it nearly impossible. Another thing I love about photography is that it constantly challenges me to always see the beauty in the normal. I am challenged to first look for the beauty, then see it, capture it and then share it with others so they too can see that beauty is everywhere.
I don't know where exactly I will take this passion in the next few years, but I know it will be good.
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