Kathryn; portraits in Elgin

(an intro.)

 

my heart is pounding stupidly as I type these words. this is my first post, and while it might not be so super exciting to you, to me I feel like Neil Armstrong planting the American flag on the moon.

 

you see, I didn't ever think I would be a photographer. in fact, I was the one secretly laughing at every homeschool girl and her grandma who thought that owning a camera meant turning it into a business.

 

to me, saying you wanted to be a professional photographer, was like trying to be the needle in a haystack world full of other artsy people. and the thought of trying to be the best overwhelmed me.

 

but one day, I rather nonchalantly picked up a camera and started shooting. I sat in front of a candle an entire morning and kept messing with things and pressing buttons and zooming in and out and flipping on lights and flipping off lights until I got it just right.

 

a few days later, I took my sister outside and moved here, squatted there, tilted the camera a hundred different angles everywhere. light flooded through the lens. light flooded into my sister's eyes.

 

and so I fell in love.

 

slowly I began to not even care if I was just another piece of hay in the haystack. at least I was a piece of hay having fun and loving what I was doing.

 

I dragged friends on shoots, I dragged my family on shoots. and pretty soon, I stopped dragging and people started volunteering, asking.

 

so now that I have more opportunities to shoot, I thought it was about time to share my little journey through the haystack. I may never be the best. I may never be that Instagram phenomenon that everyone goes googly-eyed over. but I love this. I love learning more about this. I love how someone's character screams so loudly through images. I love how shadows and light work together to make everyday scenes dreamy. I love how a person's passion, love, personality can be frozen in time, passed on to the generations to come. I love how life can be saved and shared.

 

the pictures below are of my lovely friend Kathryn. who happens to be a good friend of mine and one of my favorite photographers in the world.  (um yeah it's awesome, I know.)

 

she met me for coffee yesterday morning and answered all the questions I could think up about cameras and capturing more light and posing people.

 

we trekked through downtown Elgin pretending we were in Europe, her allowing me to practice shooting her!!! (*insert fangirl squeal*)

 

and Kathryn, I just have to say, you are absolutely stunning. the end.

 

so without further ado, here is my first post! :)

 

 

  

 

 

 

         

(thank you for yesterday, Kathryn. you are the best.)