Just Photos to Art

I can remember the moment when photos went from being just photos to something REALLY special……..

I've always enjoyed pictures. Taking pictures always involved simple point and shoot cameras….nothing elaborate - fancy - or big. Just something to grab and shoot. I had a Canon film point and shoot (or whatever they were called back then…and I say that like it was THAT long ago and it really wasn't). It started out with my grandmother's camera. I took her camera over by taking pictures of Paige. This camera took wonderful outdoor pictures and I thought it was the best thing……..

And then my world changed……….

A co-worker stopped by our department to ask a question one day. We knew he was in the early stages of planning a wedding, so, of course, we started asking LOTS of questions and getting the scoop on how the planning was going. He mentioned they had found a photographer and was telling us how wonderful this photographer was. He then told us we should go on her website and check her out. To keep from working we decided to entertain ourselves by looking this person up as he instructed. This was the moment photography became an art form to me. I was STUNNED and AMAZED. I had never seen anything like it. Her work was breathtakingly beautiful. Bright colors - sharp - crisp. Her photos left my jaw touching the floor. This was -ART- not just photos.

Some time passed before I purchased my first DSLR. I purchased this camera to take pictures of Kent and Paige riding their dirtbikes at races. My digital point and shoot just wasn't cutting it with the action shots. We had recently hired a lady at work who was a photographer on the side, and she convinced me to invest in a nice camera. She knew I had a little girl and she explained to me that it would be an investment, but it would be well worth it. Once that purchase was made I wanted to make sure I made the most of it. I wanted to learn all I could about the camera. So it was time to read. and read. and read. and research and read some more. I had all of this information swimming in my head so I decided to take a class hoping to get some answers and answers I got! The first night light bulbs were lighting up left and right. I was beyond excited to finally understand all of the information I'd taken in. This was just the beginning. To this day, I take a moment every day to try and learn something. Anything about photography. I am in love and obsessed. I admit it.

As I learned, I continued to find myself mesmerized by wedding photography. Of course it all stemmed back to the day photography became art to me. It was wedding photos. I thought someday I would love to be able to do work just like that. Doing photography for others took quite some time to consider. The idea of trying to please people scared the heck out of me. I loved photography for myself and that was really all I needed. Getting the pictures of Paige that I loved was all I needed. It fulfilled me for quite a while.

It's obvious I have now migrated to doing work for other people. The fear is gone for the most part. I admit I do get nervous but yet I now have confidence. I've worked hard. And I'll stress hard - to learn how to take photos and I'm still learning everyday. I feel there is always room for improvement. I'm always pushing myself. I now LOVE helping others to create special pictures. I can't wait to see what 2009 holds. Very soon I will be taking pictures of 6 months old Ava Grace. I took Ava's pictures when she was 4 weeks old and then 3 months and now 6! WOW! I am beyond honored to have repeat clients.

I guess the ultimate to me would be for my work to someday change how a person feels about photos. That they would see photos as art rather than just photos.

"To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things. Impression is not enough. Design, style, technique, - these, too, are not enough. Art must reach further than impression or self-revelation. Art, said Alfred Stieglitz, is the affirmation of life. And life, or its eternal evidence is everywhere. Some photographers take reality as the sculptors take wood and stone and upon it impose the dominations of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a photograph to them is an instrument of love and elevation. A true photograph need not be explained, nor can be contained in words."

~Ansel Adams