Why I take pictures,,,

(photo courtesy of Luke Townsend http://www.luketownsendphoto.com/)

"Any given moment will never occur again...there may be moments with similarities but that particular moment in time is gone.  Pressing the shutter preserves that moment forever"  - Jerry East 

I have been making photographs seriously for about 3 years however have been around photography all of my life.  My father and grandfather owned and operated a fantastic photography supply store on Main Street in Hutchinson for nearly 30 years.  I still remember the smell of the darkroom, my dad creating wonderful prints out of a tiny piece of film, my grandfather and dad talking endlessly about the craft of photography, and walking around the store in wonderment and curiosity at all the photography equipment....oh and camera bags...I inherited my dads endless, and almost obsessive, search for the "perfect camera bag". Unfortunately this store is no longer around as it did not survive the big box store movement of the late 80's that sucked the life force out of many small towns (that's another post all together).  While I was too young to understand most of it at the time I know that this is what imprinted me with the unyielding passion I have found behind the lens.  The sheer amount of joy and  freedom that I feel with a camera in my hands is beyond measure and through photography I have found a sense of peace and connection to "my world" that, until photography, I could not find any other way.

 

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While I am no where near where I want to be as a photographer I know that I am on an endless adventure and am OK with, no excited about, giving myself the time to walk slowly enough to take everything in.  Things we are passionate about should take time and the journey is much more important and rewarding than trying to hurry and find the end.  This year alone I have taken over 10,000 photographs.  Of course many of these are not ones that I particularly like, ones that I would print, or ones that I share but that is not the point.  These images are a personal documentary, or journal if you will, of my journey and I am constantly learning how to better capture what my ever evolving vision is.

                                 

I am constantly striving to learn and to explore how I can improve my photography.  I have not received any formal education in photography but to say I am self taught is not fair.  Above all my father is my mentor and solely responsible for instilling an appreciation for photography.  I have also met several friends along the way who have also contributed to my "education".  I also spend hours on  photography forums looking at others work, dissecting lighting, pouring through the technicals, and most importantly finding inspiration.

Closing out 2009 and in reflection of my year in photography so much has happened. I founded a photography club which has allowed me to meet a fantastic group of friends, I entered my photographs in a competition for the first time, I have been shooting more professionally, I set up a Strobist Workshop that featured a wonderful new friend Luke Townsend, started this blog, have added to my equipment arsenal, am becoming more comfortable with photoshop, and have developed into a better photographer....oh and I shot over 10,000 pictures.  What will this year bring I can only imagine.  All I can say is I am very excited about it.

I leave you with a couple of images of a another VERY important reason I take pictures...family.