I've loved photography for as long as I can remember. I was always fascinated with my Mom's camera growing up, and had my first camera when I was about ten I think. This was back when you had to drop your film off at the store and wait a week to find out how many pictures you had taken with your thumb over the lens ;)
In Jr. High I was able to take a photography class and develop black and white photos. It was the first class I ever really looked forward to attending. While I was in the class my teacher helped me to develop some old film that my Mom had found in her parents house after her mother passed away. Being able to hand my Mom prints of her and her sister as children and of her as a teenager really made an impression on me. I felt like I was giving her more than just a few photographs. Seeing the pictures reminded her of the moments those photos were taken.
Sadly the photography class ended. I loaned my camera to a friend who moved away shortly afterwards without returning the camera. I got busy living life, and photography became a hobby I once had. Fast forward several years to the age of digital cameras....
My husband surprised me with a Sony a230 DSLR camera for my birthday in January of 2011. He knew how much I loved photographing our two small children, and that our point and shoot camera just wasn't fast enough to catch much more than two very cute blurs. At first I was more excited than I can say. Then when I started trying to use it I got pretty frustrated....I had no idea how to use the thing and had to spend a little quality time with the manual. For a little more than a year I became more and more comfortable with my camera and it's various settings. Finally I decided that shooting in manual mode didn't sound as impossible any more. I found a great deal on Photoshop Elements on Black Friday of 2011, and my wonderful husband gave me a new lens for Christmas 2011.
Now, I am by no means a professional. I'd call myself a hobbyist, a newbie, an amateur....pretty much anything that means that I still don't know what I'm doing most of the time. What I do know is that I love capturing moments and freeze them in time. I treasure the photos I have of my family more than I can say. I've had the opportunity to take photos for a handful of friends, and each experience has just made me love photography more.
Being a Stay-at-Home Mom to a three and a half year old and a two year old makes it hard to have a ton of hobbies, but photography fits right into our busy life. My goal for this year is to learn as much as I can about photography and post processing. I've started this blog to share my experience in hopes that it helps other hobbyist, newbie, amateurs to grow and improve along with me.
