The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. ~Vladimir Nabakov

Sunday, October 23, 2011

My Photography Love Affair

I’ve been taking photos for over ten years.  Fell in love with nature when I was a very young little girl - while butterflies, June bugs, snails, birds, slithery worms and even ants fascinated me.  I played for hours with each and every little bug I could capture and touch, inspecting its details.

It wasn’t until I got older I realized my passion for nature can be expressed and captured through the lens of my camera.  Landscapes, trees and all the colourful flowers and nature surrounding us are right at my fingertips.  This of course involves all seasons including the bitter cold, which is beautiful on its own right down to the amazing frost crystals on our windows which I love to take shots of with my macro lens.

The day I did my very first photo-shoot, I knew I found something I will never let go of.  Not only I get to capture such special events for people, the energy and excitement for them to be in a photo-shoot is written all over their faces, I get to be part of their memories.

For me, it is a love affair.  A love affair with the concept of being there feeling, seeing, laughing with all their excitement of what they feel even if it is only for an hour.  I compare it to a love affair, because it never happens again.  Each experience is unique and different and leaves me with a different memory.  Wedding photographers must get that same rush & absolutely feel the same way with the one main difference.  They get to experience it for many hours at a time and sometimes more shoot are involved such as engagement shoots so they get to know the people on a much deeper level.  I capture a moment that cannot be explained only felt at the present time and I have an hour two tops with these people.

I love taking photos.  It is part of my soul, my calling if one might call it that.  I capture what I’ve been told Godly moments of energy and presence with lighting and sunshine radiance.  I capture these because it takes an eye to see a certain light, reflection, twinkle in the eye or that special secret smile in child that only comes out in the purest joy felt.  There is never another moment like it.  Each is special in it's own way.  My photography is only one half of my work, the other is editing.  Most of my photos are augmented by tweaking the contrast, curves and I do a lot of layering by cropping blinked eyes or a smile to make it fit with the rest in a group shot.  It takes hours upon hours to give people the final product but it’s work worth every drop of sweat and even worth every moments of doubt & self frustration.  I love all of it.  It allows me to learn and grow and learn something new each day.

Finally, I’m so blessed I have the opportunity to build my many friendships while I capture people’s special moments.  I'm a social butterfly anyways so for me it's easy to speak with people and find something in common.  For the most part, my clients who are or have become my friends, these people encourage me in furthering my career in what I love to do and praise me for the work I do and results I give them.  Most of the time it is just from the small sneak peeks I give on Facebook.  It feels so nice to be appreciated.  In the end I walk away feeling satisfied I gave something back, while they give me something a price cannot be attached to.  They don’t even realize that for me the most precious thing was the opportunity to share a moment in their lives, even if it was only for an hour.

Thank you~ to all of you who believe in me and encourage me. ♥