ABOUT US


 Our goal is to create a caring community for people who are passionate about photography and life. We hope this will be a place that will inspire, teach, nurture, support and accept one another; a place where we can grow in our craft and as individuals.  Welcome and thank you for visiting. These are our contributors:




Carol Albers is a passionate photographer from western New Jersey. A single mother of two with a consulting business in audiology, Carol moved into her "third act" when she signed up for an adult school photography course the month her youngest left for college.

"I've always loved photography and the arts, and I wanted to learn some technique so that I could capture what I saw in my mind's eye. But I fell in love with the process, and found my true passion!"

Today, Carol is fully immersed in workshops, in shows,and  in her the artistic journey. She has "found her tribe," both locally and on-line. "Photographers are very special people, who appreciate the beauty of the moment.  Photography has brought friendships and travels and wonderful experiences into my life - but also the introspective joy of creating art." 

Carol is an original member of FOL, and finds it a perfect fit for her journey.  "To me, FOL is about strong, thoughtful women, the practice of gratitude and joy, the appreciation of beauty and nature, and the skill of photography - everything that I love! "

Visit Carol :
       On her website at:  carolcalbers.zenfolio.com
       On Instagram as Carolanne22

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hello there,

I'm Cathy Hubmann, an explorer, a wanderer, a photographer, and a blogger from central Arkansas. My passion is capturing and sharing the details and beauty of nature with my camera.

I started a blog in 2010 while taking a scrapbook journaling class to improve my writing skills. Blogging led to reading other blogs, which led to the discovery of nature photography. I knew that this was something I wanted to do, so I took online photo courses and joined several photography groups. In one of those classes I met the special ladies here at Focusing On Life.

I am also a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. I married my high school sweetheart over four decades ago. We have two wonderful children and five amazing grandsons.

I'd love for you to come by and visit me at my blog or Flickr account where you will learn a little more about me and my love for nature and photography.

            My blog:  http://grammaslittlecorner.blogspot.com/
            My Flickr account:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/18953962@N08/


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Hi, I am Deanna, one of the original’s to this lovely blog where we try and inspire you in various and entertaining ways.  Not only am I one of the originals, but the oldest in this great circle of women.  I don’t hide the fact that I am 70 almost 71, been married for almost 50 years, come January 25th, have 2 wonderful children that are both married to astounding spouses, 3 grown grandchildren, 1 of them married so I have a grand daughter-in-law, 1 of them recently a college grad and working in the adult world, and 1 of them a junior in college, all blessings each and every one.  My husband suffers from Alzheimer’s, one of the absolute worst diseases ever, and has been in a Nursing Facility for over 2 1/2 years.  I have 2 adorable dogs that keep me company and love me unconditionally, loads of friends that I enjoy and a camera by my side.  I blog about my daily life at http://deannaswauger.blogspot.com/  aka Snippets From Springdale, so pop over there if you want to know more about me.  I tend to divulge pretty much everything about my life around me, with bunches of pictures.     


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 



Dotti Rinehart's interest in digital photography began about 9 years ago. "To be perfectly honest”, she says, “when I look back at my first digital photos, I'm rather embarrassed at how bad they were!"  Yet the photography bug bit her and she is now fully engaged in photography and online photo groups and is one of the founders of Focusing on Life. Feeling that photography is an ongoing quest, she invites you to join her in the journey here on our blog.

Dotti lives in Danville, Kentucky with her husband of 40 years and they have a grown daughter and young granddaughter who, happily, live nearby. You can also visit Dotti at the blog she shares with her daughter and granddaughter, http://www.camperky.com.You can also find Dotti on Instagram at dotshots.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Judy Salcedo lives just North of NYC, in the beautiful Hudson River Valley.  She is married and has two sons.  

Judy's love of photography began as a young child, looking at sepia-toned photos through her great-grandmother's stereoscope.  That love never died and she has spent most of her life involved in photography. She graduated from the New York Institute of Photography and continues to learn through online courses and in-person workshops. 

Judy is inspired by nature, and finds a walk through the woods with her camera to be very meditative.  Close-up and Macro photography are a large part of her work, and in all of her photos you will see a common thread of natural light, shadows and saturated colors. 

Visit Judy at:
Her blog and portfolio - hey jude photography 
On Instagram at jls316

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hi there.  My name is Kelly Ishmael.  I am a wife, mother, nature lover, and  hobbyist photographer.

I have always loved taking photos and when I became a mother, my passion for photography and memory keeping was ignited. I became that mom who followed her child around with a camera and filled dozens of scrapbooks with snapshots of her family's life. But then my daughter (my only child) graduated from high school and went off to college. And I feared that with her gone I would have nothing left to photograph.

I was so wrong.

As it turns out, there is still so much for me to  photograph. Whether it is photographing lovely blooms, beautiful light, or previously unseen details, my camera has taught me to see things differently . . . my camera taught me to see my life differently.  And the truth is that it brings me so much joy.

These days my passion is capturing that beauty and joy in my everyday life. And I am so happy and grateful to be able to share it with you. I would love for you to visit my blog at http://mindingmynest.com/ and my Flicker gallery at http://www.flicker.com/photos/58736886@N05/.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hi! I’m Leigh Love a photographer and landscape designer from Oklahoma City.  I’m one of the originals here at FOL.  Being a part of this collaborative blog has been such a gift. It has helped me connect with others as well as break out of my comfort zone by attaching words to my photos. Nature is my muse in both of my careers…landscaping and photography so you will find that as my focus the majority of the time. There is nothing more relaxing or meditative than being out in nature with my camera.  Through photography I am able to slow down, find the beauty around me and tell it’s story.   You can find me on instagram (http://www.instagram.com/loveleeokc), Stocksy United (http://www.stocky.com/LeighLove) and http://www.leighlove.com

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Linda Owens lives just outside of Austin, Texas with her husband. After a brief career in the high tech field, she turned her focus to caring for and raising a family. Almost an empty nester, she has a daughter and a son and 2 beautiful granddaughters that fill her days with their smiles and laughter.

A high school photography class, shooting and developing film, sparked an interest looking at the world through a lens. Her lens was usually focused on her family and  over the years she has enjoyed using many different cameras from disposable to her current favorite Canon 60D. The community and creativity she finds on Instagram have sparked a love for iPhonography. This  has encouraged her to continue to take photos and try new ways to shoot and  process the simple moments in her daily life. You can follow Linda on Instagram at lgotx.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terri Porter lives in the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, AZ, where she has lived most of her life. She is the mom of three grown sons and the grandmother of a 15-year-old grandson and two five-year-old granddaughters.

She has always been interested in photography and started scrapbooking in 1997.  Near the end of 2009, she began digital scrapbooking and as she learned more about Photoshop, she began teaching Elements classes and really enjoyed sharing the wonders of digital scrapbooking and post-processing with other scrapbookers. She is one of the founders of Focusing on Life.

As a way to improve her photography, in 2010 she signed up for Tracey Clark’s Picture Summer at Big Picture Classes and proceeded to take all of Tracey’s Picture classes.  Terri says they changed her photography more than anything else she had ever taken.  Her photography moved away from focusing on portraits and landscapes to falling in love with macro photography. 

Photography is something she does for herself, something she tries to do every day to keep herself connecting with the world around her.  You can find her blog at http://porterimages58.blogspot.com/ and her Flickr pool at http://www.flickr.com/photos/terriporter. You can also find Terri on Instagram as terriporter.





 
© Focusing On Life