Welcome to the very first few threads of my dream in the making!
I have been waiting for an opportunity to expand with my Photography, and it is finally happening. I cannot express how excited I am, and I cannot wait to see where it takes me!!!
I began taking Photographs at a very young age. My parents bought me a nifty little lavender 35mm camera. You know, the kind that you wind by hand and had a lethal flash? I LOVED that camera, and I am pretty sure I ran through about ten rolls of film simply pointing and shooting at random objects. From there, I figured out that I really loved taking photos, and my passion only continued to grow.
My Dad would go and take the film to be processed, (strange to think back to those days isn't it?!), and he would comment on how I had "an eye" for photos, and how my pictures we pretty impressive for some one so young and inexperienced. At the time, I wasn't really sure what he meant, all I knew was that I liked taking pictures and really enjoyed having the memories stored forever.
Forward to my high school years, I decided to take Photography classes and was lucky enough to have parents willing to pay STEEP fees in order for me to do so. (Thanks Mom :) Now, I am going to be completely honest here, for most of the first half of my beginning photo class, I had NO clue what was being talked about. It wasn't that I didnt pay attention, I just figured out that I saw things from a very different perspective, learning light, color and all of the elements that create a beautiful photograph out of a text book seemed all to alien to me. I found that I learned best with my camera in hand, and I believe that my teacher saw that as well. There were times where I greatly doubted my abilities based off of what we were reading, what the objective of our assignments were and whether or not I was successfully capturing what I was meant to as a student. I wanted to let my Creative Flag fly so to speak, and because of that, I felt as though I was not meeting the standards that were placed for us.
My teacher, single handily changed that perspective one day. Reviewing my work and telling me how great it was. not from a conventional aspect, but he too saw that my father and other family members ha seen, "the eye" for a photo, the natural talent, so to speak, and he told me that I should run with it. To follow it, to keep going. From there on, I did just that, and I strongly believe that is why I am able to do so much with it now.
Photography is not just an art for me, It is a passion. I find few things are as rewarding as seeing my vision on a screen and then seeing the joy it brings to my clients. While I am hoping that one day in the near future I will be able to rely on my skills as my main source of income, it is not just a job either. When I meet with families, friends, whomever I may be hired by, I do not stand and count down the minutes until a session is "up", I am there until the photos tell me so. I have FUN, i laugh and joke and enjoy the moment.
Essex Photography Company is the product of all of these things, all of these people, and all of my ambitions rolled into one!!! This is my dream coming true, and I hope that you will consider being a part of that!!!
