First of all, I would like to publicly admit that I should be doing laundry instead of writing this post. No, seriously. We got back from our trip to the Cotton Bowl on Saturday and I still am not unpacked and my laundry room is a disaster zone. But that can wait….
I would much rather write this blog post that was just inspired when I read my friend Holly’s blog post on her “WHY” for being a photographer. First of all, you should know that it was Holly who taught my intro to photography class almost 5 years ago and to Holly, I am full of thanks and gratitude that I’m not even sure I can fully express with words. If it weren’t for Holly, I never would have picked up my camera. If it weren’t for Holly, I would never have known that I had a gift and talent that was being completely unused. If it weren’t for Holly, I never would have realized that I am happiest and feel the most complete as a person when I am being creative.
Picking up that camera led to a photography business, to change in my marriage, to change in my personal life that I badly needed to happen, but most of all…it led to a thirty year old woman realizing that she had something inside of her that needed to be used. It led to a thirty year old mom of three who was having her world completely rocked by motherhood and countless life changes, realizing that having something for herself, having something that made her feel complete and whole and happy and inspired, was ok. No, it wasn’t just ok….it was NECESSARY. It made me feel alive. So here I am almost five years later and my photography looks completely different than it did several years ago. I am doing fewer sessions and focusing more on weddings. I am spending less time behind the computer and more time at basketball practice, dance performances, baseball games, and whatever else motherhood beckons I attend. Yes I am still a photographer but it looks different than it did two years ago and I hope that in two more years it looks even different than it does now. I hope I am always growing, changing and evolving. Regardless of what life brings though, photography will always be a part of who I am.
WHY?
Because of the unbelievably fulfilling feeling I get when I realize that I was the one who had the honor of capturing this moment. A World War II veteran reaching out to grasp his beloved’s arm at his granddaughter’s wedding. A moment that will forever be treasured by his family even more so since he recently passed away. A moment that his granddaughter told me meant the world to their family. I was the one who had the honor to be there. I was the one who had the honor to capture this moment…
Or a moment like this….when my roommate from college is experiencing the JOY of motherhood…times two. I was the one there to capture this moment for her.
Or a moment like this. I remember the day my sister told me I was going to be an aunt. Now that beautiful baby is all grown up and I couldn’t be more proud of the young woman she is becoming. I got to be the one to be there to take her senior pictures…
Then there are moments like this. Some dear friends asking me to photograph their precious family and I got to be a part of capturing her precious little personality. I know that some day this little girl will be all grown up and her parents will look back at this picture and remember exactly what she was like at this age and I love that.
There are moments like this. A sweet momma who I have gotten to know over the years as I have photographed her family. I have watched their family grow and I have been there to capture moments such as these, a mother holding both of her babies in her arms and trying to love and comfort them both at the same time. Such a precious moment. Such a capture of true life. It tells the story of a mother learning to be a mother to TWO. I got to be the one to capture that moment in time…
Moments like these….when I get to capture the sheer joy and excitement and love between two people who have chosen to spend their lives together.
Moments like this where I get to capture three brothers being all boy, and it just so happens that I’ve known their mother since she was sixteen years old.
Moments like these where I get to see a couple who have waited to find one another….
And then I get to be there to experience the most important day of their lives with them…moments like these when she tells her niece (who happens to be a precious little girl that I actually got to watch come into this world ) that she gets to wear pearls and a big pretty dress.
Then I get to be the one to watch her put on her wedding dress and hug her dad and brother and walk down the aisle and have her first dance and have the most amazing day of her entire life. I get to be there to capture all those moments.
Then there are moments like these. Where I got to capture the ridiculous cuteness of my friend’s precious little boy.
And moments like this…where a family is just unposed, which is the only way I like them anyway, and is just genuinely happy in experiencing a life moment. A life moment like becoming a family of four and just embracing the craziness. I got to be the one to be there and capture that forever moment.
Then of course there are moments like these. Moments in my own life. My daughter turning seven and throwing up her crazy peace signs because she was in a “throw up a peace sign every single time you see the camera” phase. I get to capture those moments for my own family too…
And moments like this….where my husband kissed my daughter and you can tell how absolutely in love with his little princess he truly is.
There are many, MANY reasons WHY I am a photographer. But moments. Those are the real reason. My life will change. I will grow. I don’t know what the future has in store from me. But I know one thing will never change. Photography has allowed me to be a part of moments that will never be forgotten. That gives me a feeling that blesses me beyond belief. That is my WHY.
