A little story
Why the "Accidental Photographer" title you ask? I don't have an inspiring "I was given my first camera by my favorite uncle for my 10th birthday" story, I didn't have an art or photography-filled childhood that inspired me to create, and I didn't study anything remotely artsy in college (I was an Anthropology major--I studied bones and the stuff long-dead people leave behind). In fact the only experience I had with photography as a child was a polaroid land camera my teenage brother gave me when I was about 6. We had little money so the one film packet I was given was IT...I never got another one. I loved that camera. My mom got rid of it when I was a teenager. One day I had it then the next day it was gone. I'm still not over it.
Skip forward a few years to when my then boyfriend (now my husband) gave me a point and shoot camera. That little camera lasted me a good 8 years. I took all the early year photos of our son with that camera...until he grabbed it out of my hand and chucked it out the car door. It didn't fare well. Unfortunately, I have no idea what make or model it was but I loved that camera, too. My very patient and generous husband replaced that point and shoot with another...just in time for baby #2 to become my muse. I have no idea what happened to that camera and no idea what kind it was either. I do know it lasted until baby #4.
Then we went digital.
A couple more point and shoots later (those were Nikon coolpix models--see, I'm getting better at remembering the important details) and one day I decided I wanted my family snapshots to look less like deer-in-the-headlight snapshots and more like REAL photos. Like the kind of photos my husband was taking. What I didn't know was that it was not terribly possible to get the "look" I wanted from my fully automatic p&s camera. I needed something more serious. I needed something bigger and heavier. I needed my husband's Nikon D70 which he was happy to hand over since that meant HE could upgrade to the D200. A little side note here: I did not ask for his camera...it was his idea. He is a fine art nature photographer and any excuse to get new gear is ok by him! Well, after I got over the initial shock of how heavy a DSLR is and that there are BUTTONS that do things on the top of it I started to really like photography. To encourage me in my new-found interest, my husband bought me Tracey Clark's book Expressive Photography and enrolled me in an on-line photography class taught by Irene Nam. It wasn't a technical class but one that would inspire and help me see that I could shoot the subjects closest to my heart in a way uniquely mine. The book and the class together sealed the deal. I REALLY liked photography.
Since that wonderful online class I've gone on two photography retreats with Shutter Sisters, had 6 images printed in an internationally recognized organization's magazine, had an image used in an ad campaign by Visa/NFL on their social media sites, taken MORE online photography classes (I HIGHLY recommend any Kim Klassen class if you are interested in learning Adobe Photoshop and/or Lightroom, honing your creativity and photography, or you just want or need encouragement and more inspiration that you can imagine), I've finished one 365 photography project and have embarked on another, but mostly I went from liking photography to LOVING photography.
I came by this love accidentally. I didn't look for it. I wasn't seeking a new creative path for my life. I just wanted to have nice photos of my kids. I got that and so much more.
Skip forward a few years to when my then boyfriend (now my husband) gave me a point and shoot camera. That little camera lasted me a good 8 years. I took all the early year photos of our son with that camera...until he grabbed it out of my hand and chucked it out the car door. It didn't fare well. Unfortunately, I have no idea what make or model it was but I loved that camera, too. My very patient and generous husband replaced that point and shoot with another...just in time for baby #2 to become my muse. I have no idea what happened to that camera and no idea what kind it was either. I do know it lasted until baby #4.
Then we went digital.
A couple more point and shoots later (those were Nikon coolpix models--see, I'm getting better at remembering the important details) and one day I decided I wanted my family snapshots to look less like deer-in-the-headlight snapshots and more like REAL photos. Like the kind of photos my husband was taking. What I didn't know was that it was not terribly possible to get the "look" I wanted from my fully automatic p&s camera. I needed something more serious. I needed something bigger and heavier. I needed my husband's Nikon D70 which he was happy to hand over since that meant HE could upgrade to the D200. A little side note here: I did not ask for his camera...it was his idea. He is a fine art nature photographer and any excuse to get new gear is ok by him! Well, after I got over the initial shock of how heavy a DSLR is and that there are BUTTONS that do things on the top of it I started to really like photography. To encourage me in my new-found interest, my husband bought me Tracey Clark's book Expressive Photography and enrolled me in an on-line photography class taught by Irene Nam. It wasn't a technical class but one that would inspire and help me see that I could shoot the subjects closest to my heart in a way uniquely mine. The book and the class together sealed the deal. I REALLY liked photography.
Since that wonderful online class I've gone on two photography retreats with Shutter Sisters, had 6 images printed in an internationally recognized organization's magazine, had an image used in an ad campaign by Visa/NFL on their social media sites, taken MORE online photography classes (I HIGHLY recommend any Kim Klassen class if you are interested in learning Adobe Photoshop and/or Lightroom, honing your creativity and photography, or you just want or need encouragement and more inspiration that you can imagine), I've finished one 365 photography project and have embarked on another, but mostly I went from liking photography to LOVING photography.
I came by this love accidentally. I didn't look for it. I wasn't seeking a new creative path for my life. I just wanted to have nice photos of my kids. I got that and so much more.
