I really felt compelled to share how I started in photography many, many years ago. I've always had a creative and artistic mind. I started writing in a journal when I was 10 years old. I kept many journals for years. I would always get annoyed because my mother would find them but it never stopped me from writing.
My writings were very dark. As a teenager despite my outward appearance of being joy filled I was very depressed. I also was a dark thinker. I had a lot of anger towards a lot of people and let it fester within which caused most of my writings/poetry to be geared towards hate, anger, depression or sadness.
From there, I picked up a camera. I continued to write but wanted a new and fresh way to express myself and my inner thoughts/pain. I started with my camera phone. Than I graduated to a cheap DSLR. Like really cheap. It was border line disposable. I did simple shoots, nothing serious, and took photographs as a hobby for years before even considering I had any sort of talent to do it professional. (Still debating that to this day.)
A lot of my photographs where simple. I took a lot of pictures of my sisters and my children because they were consistent subjects in my life that were willing to let me pose them, work with them, or let me shoot lifestyle shots of. I had no idea what I was doing with lighting or anything technical. I just knew what I wanted on the screen, what theme I wanted, and went with it. Easy as that.
I knew from the beginning that I wanted each photograph to represent a season of my life, my child's life (I was a single mom at the time that I started getting really serious about my hobby) and/or to represent a struggle that someone faced. My sister and I got together one time she visited and did a shoot on depression in teens. We knew it was a very relevant issue and wanted to bring it to life.
I also took lots of film of my daughter. I wanted to capture sweet and even rough moments of our life together when it was just the two of us. I rarely spent time at home during the year I was a single mom and so every moment we had together meant more to me than anything. She was always so easy to capture because she is just like me and doesn't mind openly expressing herself.
I also did lots of self-portraits. I've lived a rough life and I used my photography as a therapy piece. I believe in art. I believe that participating in art in any way whether painting on a canvas or taking a photograph can help you rid yourself of certain pain and thoughts. It's at least a tool.
Some of my previous work is too "dark" too share. Some of it I shot for myself. Some of it I shot for a purpose. I did a lot of it for practice.
I wanted to share all this because I know a lot of people give up on their dreams and passions. Starting out I never thought I'd do anything further with photography. It was a serious passion and love of mine but I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd be decent enough or skilled enough to start a business. Nor did I believe that anyone would support me.
I learned quickly however that you always have room to grow. You won't always be the best and that's OK. You just need the passion and drive to move forward despite that fact. I also realized quickly that I didn't need anyone else to support me. I just need to know that this is where God is wanting me. This is where God is desiring for me to go.
My goal is to one day host workshops for men and woman wanting to use their photography as a means to express themselves. With art, there is no limit. And when you press on through the challenges and into your dream you change not just your own life but many others around you. I also believe that if more people who feel inclined to be an artists in any way would pursue that dream than art would be more alive today than it ever has. Creativity would be revived. I see it coming back and my prayer is that many more artists will embrace it.
I also hope that those who are holding on by a thread to a dream will live it. Sometimes you just have to take the first step. It won't be easy, but if you fail while trying, you aren't really failing. Because so many people never even start.
Shew. Finally getting to this beautiful baby boys infant shoot. Let me just say I give props to photographers who photograph babies as a speciality. It is not going to be my focus. Babies are a true gift from God and I do not mind photographing them on occasion but I most likely will not come to your home with tons of fancy equipment. I'll just use whatever I can find that will work. ;)
