She Took a Picture of What??

by Kelly

“Why is she taking a picture of that ugly, old boat?”

That’s what my dear friend, Suzanne, was thinking while I was standing there taking pictures.

She confessed this to me on the phone one day. It had only been a week or so after we got back from our vacation to St. John and I had finally gotten around to sharing a few of my photos on my blog.  But when she saw that photo in context with the rest of the photos of the adventure that day, she said, “I totally get it.” And that simple comment...even to this day....well, I’m not sure if she could possibly know what a confidence booster it was to me at the time.

Well so that vacation was two years ago.  I’d had my fancy new DSLR camera for about a year and had just scratched the surface of photography.  This photo would have been before any of my Big Picture Classes so it’s not really the greatest photo.  But it was there….the desire to capture not just the highlights of our trip, but the experience.  The details.  The heart.  The story.
 
So fast forward two years and as I’m putting together this blog post, I am knee deep in laundry and unpacking from our vacation to Destin.

And as you would probably imagine, I took a lot of photos.  One rainy afternoon while we were at the beach, I was going through my photos.  My dear friend Carrie was sitting next to me and she said, “What makes your photos so interesting is your point of view.” Which is just about the nicest compliment she could have given me.

I have to admit, it was a conscious decision on my part…before we even left for our trip I had decided that I was going to leave my inner critic at home. This time I was going to shoot differently. I mean, ok sure, I took lots of photos of the beach and the water and of us having fun.  But I also wanted to capture photos of things that spoke to me. Little details that touched my heart. Even if they weren't necessarily “beach” or “vacation” photos.  You know what I mean?

I think this, for me, has been a defining area of my journey in photography. Learning to shoot for myself.  I think being a ‘scrapbooker’ definitely had an impact on my photography.  Especially in the beginning…mostly shooting to preserve the precious memories of my family and friends.  And to some degree there will always be a part of me that shoots with that goal in mind – preserving, documenting, celebrating.

But in the last year or so, I’ve slowly started allow myself to take a break from the memory-keeping mentality .  Finding the confidence to capture the light as well as the memories.  Find the heart in the story – the way I see it.  It’s been so liberating. And can I tell you…it’s brought me so much joy.

So I’d love to know…how has your perspective changed or evolved over the years. Do you ever struggle with finding voice in your photography?  And more importantly, do I have any volunteers to come help me fold clothes??

Until next time, Kelly