So I have no idea if my audience is the size of one (yours truly) or a hundred. But, they say I should write a blog so here we go!

My Dream Seed Was Planted…

I remember my dad’s fancy camera hanging on his neck. I would admire the black block of magic, and truly wonder how such a piece of plastic and metal could capture what my human eyes captured. And do it so beautifully… I always wanted to hold it. Press the shutter button. But it was heavy, and I got the feeling he didn’t trust me.

Around the time I was 7 or so, I was with my family at a 96 Rock event. It was huge. Busy. Summertime. Hot…  As my dad people-watched, snapping photos here and there, he stopped and struggled with his lens toward the sky. There was a plane flying above, a banner ten times its size flapping in its trail. My dad handed me his camera and challenged me to get the banner “in focus”, which was done by lining up these two pictures in this central circle thing I could see only when I pressed my eye through the viewfinder. The plane was so little. And fast. And the banner was moving so much! And it was so bright!! The little circle in the center of this tiny viewfinder was impossibly small.

I held my breath. I pressed the shutter button. And I crossed my fingers.

Whomp whomp!! – I don’t remember if I got the plane in focus. But I do remember my dad marveling at the photos I took after this event. Super obsessed with our house’s curb appeal and constantly planting grass seed and fertilizer, I would spend hours outside taking photos of his work and those who admired it. Flowers, bees, and eventually birds in flight. I mastered that teeny viewfinder with that impossibly small circle… When my dad complimented my “sharp” pictures, I truly felt accomplished.

Whether I’m in the hustle and bustle of a busy wedding or meandering by myself through a quiet park, I always notice. The flower blooms. Bees. Birds. Bunnies… And sometimes I’ll stop for a photo. No matter how much I grow or where my business takes me, my soul is so thankful that my job in life is to stop and take in the moment. And I am filled with absolute honor and recharged for the next job when, after the hustle and bustle of a busy and too-quickly-over wedding, I get to deliver those moments back to my client. I love capturing moments for my client’s most treasured memories.