When I started out on my journey into photography the world seemed so big! A question I asked was where do I start to learn? What books were a good resource? What online resources were the best? When googling How to Learn Digital Photography 101, the search results were so ridiculously high I didn’t know where to start!
This blog post is part two my Photography 101 blog post series. To read the first post – How To Start Out in the Photography World click here.
Somewhere along the road of searching I came across the ClickinMoms website. This community captivated me from the beginning! What truly captured me was the beautiful way that these mothers were recording their kids lives. Each image spoke to me and related to me as a mother. I wanted to be able to capture these memories of my ever changing life for myself. I quickly signed up and dove head first into this wonderful community. I took basic classes like Shooting 101, Processing 101 and Lighting 101. Then as I kept learning, I wanted to have a website that reflected my growing skills so I invested in the WordPress 101 course. I took classes purely to fill my creative needs like the Fine Art and Visual Expression course. Each one of these courses taught me something different and grew me in my passion for photography.
While these courses taught me a lot about the technical side of photography, there was something still missing. The wider community of photographers is where I really grew. There have been so many kind and helpful people within the photography community that have helped me in my journey. I really utilized the forums, asked questions, and read up on others experiences. The online community is a wonderful resource but nothing can replace the value of a face to face conversation. I don’t know what I would do without my two best photog and mom friends! Jen of Jennifer Hibberd Photography & Bobbi-Jo of Love Bee Photography have been my support system for the last two years! I met Bobbi-Jo through the CM community and Jen reached out to me to be a vendor for her wedding show. We quickly became fast friends and now refer to each other as 3 Chicks Who Click!
One thing I wish that I did more of during those early few years, is that I would have been more brave to reach out to photographers that I looked up to. I was so afraid that they would reject my questions or wouldn’t have time to get back to me. But looking back that’s so ridiculous! There are good people out there, those who really want to see others around them flourish. I am reading a few good books right now— I never can really just read one book at a time so I have at least three on the go right now! This book called Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst has been speaking to my heart. The one chapter I read talked about the subject of competition and how sometimes we see others successes and feel threatened by them. We sit and wonder why her success hasn’t happened to us. I love what she wrote here,
“Her success does not threaten mine. It’s so true, sweet friend. When she does well, we all do well. All tides rise when we see a sister making this world, a better place with her gifts.”
It has really been sitting on my heart the last number of days and actively learning to view others in this light. Why can’t we be happy for others? Why do we feel like we can’t go to others for advice? Do we really feel that we aren’t good enough? I know that I am not alone in my struggles and there are loads of others who feel the same way! At the end of that same chapter Lisa closes it with this quote,
“There is an abundant need in this world for your exact brand of beautiful.”
This is what we need to focus on! We are unique and we have been created to be different! We don’t need to feel jealous or inadequate! Reach out, ask questions and dig deep!
As you may or may not know, I have a thing for books! Growing up I read a ton of books— often keeping my light on way too late and having to force myself out of bed in the morning because I was too tired from reading the night before. Now as a mom I find it a luxury to be able to sit down and curl up with a book! I cannot tell you the last time I actually read a novel. My reading interests have changed over the years and now my shelves are filled with books by Brene Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Donald Miller, Bob Goff, Shauna Niequist, Jon Acuff, and so many more! I also love reading cook books! Books of so many sorts have given me a wealth of wisdom and immense pleasure over the last number of years. I have come across some great photography books over the last number of years as well. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Petersen was my first photography book purchase and helped me a ton! I also have a book on Karsh which was so inspiring! To see how he uses light and his personality to capture portraits is something almost of a lost art in an age of shoot and burn photographers. This kind of craft is hard to find in today’s world. But there are those photographers out there- so search for them, learn from them and reach out to them!
Thank you again for tuning into this second part of the blog post series Photography 101. If you missed the first part you can find it here. I would love to hear from you— so please feel free to send me an email or leave a comment below to get in touch with me!
