A Healing

 

"I was born with a camera in my hand", is a common phrase said by some of the best photographers.  Unfortunately, this is  not a common phrase for me.  Photography was something I had always loved, even as a little girl posing My Little Ponies, but photography came in a different way for me.

As I grew older, got married and had children, my life was put on hold to be a stay-at-home mom.  Although many sacrifices came with this job, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  A little over 3 years ago my husband bought me my first DSLR camera.  I started off by taking photos of tutus that I was making and selling but found that I was getting more attention for my photos than I was for the actual tutus.  Over time, I started to get more and more requests to take photos of friends and family.  Shortly thereafter, like a lot of other people in this country, my husband lost his job.  This came as a huge sadness to our family as we lost our home, the majority of our belongings and even our beloved dog, Dougie.

This change in our life is what gave me the opportunity to finally go after what I loved: photography.  The passion to fight to make the business a success came with the struggle, hardship, hurt and pain of this new change.  I loved photographing and capturing the happiness in families, the joys of newborns, the true love of weddings and the success of graduating seniors.  Photography is what made me happy and healed a lot of fears and frustrations that were occuring in my own life.  Being able to photograph all these great moments in other people's lives reminded of what is truly important. 

This is now my business and I am loving every moment of it.  Running your own business can consume you but I have been blessed with meeting so many amazing photographers and clients, many who I can now call friends.

What has photography done for you? Today, show us how much you love photography and show us the photos you love.

Images and words courtesy of the lovely and talented Desiree Niumata of Desiree Niumata Photography.  You can also find her on Facebook and her blog, as well. 

Thankful.

It was about 17 years ago, I don't remember exactly.  My brother and dad together one afternoon and me, using my brother's old high school camera, a Pentax K1000 (which I still have).  My dad and I had not spoken in many years and had only recently begun speaking again after my brother was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.  It was an akward moment for me but I had my camera and that was my safety net.  Always has been, probably always will be.  I developed the film in a B&W photo class I was taking at a junior college the next day and I remember being so displeased with the quality of the photo.  I didn't like the lighting, the contrast wasn't perfect, etc.  I tossed it aside and forgot all about it.  That is until last week, when in the middle of going through some old things, I came across it again.  My heart did a little flutter as I looked closely at the photo. I notice my dad's long, weathered hands and the way he's looking directly at me, his expression a little unsure maybe?  And then I smile as I notice my brother trying to be Mr. GQ.  Not only does the photo not seem so bad to me now, I'm so very thankful that I kept it because 3 years after this photo was taken, I lost my brother to cancer. A short 3 years after my brother passed, I lost my dad.

Now, when I have those moments (and I do) and I wonder if photography is really what I'm meant to do or I start questioning my own self-confidence with it all (which I also do), I look at this photo and I know...a camera most definitely belongs in my hands. 

How about you? What was your 'aha' moment or photo? Please, do share.

Emotion in Motion

I love capturing motion shots.  To me, nothing shows emotion better than an act or movement caught in the moment.  The kids at my son's school put on huge dance performance every year and my 'job' is to put together a slideshow for their friends and family of the photos I've taken to show just prior to the kids taking stage.  Seeing the kids in motion, the pure joy on their faces, shows everyone just how much fun they had getting ready for the big night. 

Capturing motion shots of all kinds can show an array of emotions from the element of surpise to pure delight to simple childhood fun.  How about you? Show us your motion shots.  Let us see the emotion you've captured.   

A Very Special Gift.

It's no secret that most of our photography is of good things: weddings, new babies, birthdays and the requisite pet photo, to name a few.  But what about the other photos? The ones that tell a story no one wants to tell?  Last August I was a summer camp photographer and had the privilege of meeting so many great kids, but one girl was special.  She had a brain tumor and was in the fight for her life but sadly, on April 13th, she lost the battle at the tender age of 4.  Not too long after, her mom contacted me: I would like for you to attend Ann's service and burial on Friday, and if possible captivate it with your wonderful lens.  It was definitely taking me outside of my comfort zone as I had never done something like this before, but how could I not? It was the least I could do for this wonderful family and to honor the child they had lost. 

Have you ever gone out of your comfort zone when photographing something or someone? Please, share your special stories with us...

In Loving Memory of Ann Marie Ambrosio-Cerna, June 17th, 2006 - April 13th, 2011

collections of the heart

When I was a child, I collected rocks.  It didn't matter where they came from.  If I liked a rock I saw, then into my collection it went.  When I became pregnant with my first son I started collecting antique, silver baby spoons.  I scoured antique stores and and eBay looking for just the right spoon to add to my collection all the time.  I think it's a no-brainer then that being a photographer, I'm going to acquire things that have to do with photography from vintage cameras to funky jewelry to cool t-shirts.  What's even better is that those who know me well always seem to find something that, as my girlfriend who gave me the necklace above said, "When I saw it I knew I had to get it for you".  I'm the one who will carry that awesome camera tote and wear the cool camera earrings and have the cute little keychain.  I love what I do and I 'wear' it with pride.  And, like Martha Stewart says, that's a good thing.  

How about you? What collections do you have? Take a picture and share with us.  I know I'm not the only out there!