I cannot remember my life without a camera. I find it extremely difficult not to be the creepy friend who hears of a baby, wedding, or major life event and instantly offers to take the pictures of it. I understand that some people may not want pregnancy pictures. Yearly family photos? They could care less. But I tend to shout out “Can I take pictures of your baby?!” far too often to people that I barely know, and I typically feel super creepy about doing so.
My first camera was around the age of six, taking pictures at family events or having a photo shoot with my friends. I created backdrops, took some of the first selfies, and used animals and Barbie dolls to work on my camera angles. I was my yearbook's photography editor and scrapbooked for years when I was a kid. And finally in 2009, I purchased my first D-SLR.
At first, it was frustrating. I felt as if I could not take nearly as good of pictures with it as I could with my small point-and-shoot, but that did not stop me. My first wedding I attended days within my pricey purchase, I managed to snap over 1,000 shots and ended up with a lot of good ones. I spent hours on the Internet researching Photoshop techniques and ventured out in snow and rain to perfect my skills.
In Spring 2011, I took my first trip to Walt Disney World specifically to take pictures. I know it sounds weird, but there is actually an entire network of people that does this. As much as I have been to the parks in Orlando, all I wanted to do was be able to take pictures without distracting or holding back my friends and family through the parks. I spent 17 hours that day shooting, riding rides, and exploring the parks all by myself (something that I hadn’t been able to do since my College Program years in 2005). It was joyous.
When I got home though, I began to realize that the pictures that I wanted to attempt to mimic that I had seen on the Internet did not produce. I knew that these people knew more than me…and I wanted to know more. I threw around the idea of taking a college course for photography and quickly realized that many of those started with traditional film SLRs, were very expensive, and took several courses to get to where I wanted to be. It was far too much money for a hobby. So I waited.
I researched the Internet more, read more, and educated myself around everything I could. Conveniently for me, I was working at Best Buy at the time, and through the years, I became the supervisor of the camera department. Working and managing a camera department, you learn a lot. I had to understand the ins and outs of the point-and-shoots as well as the D-SLRs in order educate others about them. I was able to talk-the-talk very well.
Over time, I expressed to my manager that I wanted to know more about the D-SLRs…and how to use them. I had heard of several area stores actually offering classes for customers and made a business case on why he should send me to a training class.
During the summer of 2012, I had the privilege of attending a beginner’s D-SLR class. We had models for each of us to shoot and there were a lot of hands on experience. We were able be taught various techniques and settings on the cameras (all Nikon, Canon, and Sony options), and then were able to test what we had learned. We went through the steps of fill flash, bounce flash, moving objects, blurred objects, portraits, etc.
I still creepily suggest that I should take pictures of my friends’ pregnant bellies and their engagement sessions. I never mean that they have to have me take their pictures, or that I need to be their only source of newborn portraits…however, I just want opportunities to practice. Now I have been doing more and more shoots for friends, family, and clients! It is amazing what a simple goal can produce.
