Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Get to know me...

A while back I mentioned that occasionally I would share a photo from the past...and a little bit about that time.  My thought is that if you get to know me a little better - how photography has always played some role in my life - that you will understand my passion behind my drive.  
This is a photo of my daughter - she was 6 or 7 in this photo, and we were at the St Louis Zoo.  Great place - it's absolutely gorgeous. She is one of my bright lights in this world.  My daughter is the youngest of my kids, and even before she was born I had no doubt that she had a strong personality.  It was against all odds that she is even here...and not a day goes by (yes, even the tough ones!) that I give thanks for her.  I cannot imagine my life without her!  Sadly, though, she does not like having her picture taken.  Most of the photos I have of her in the last couple of years are either the ones taken by surprise, or her hand is somewhere in front of her face.  (I do understand that feeling - because I cannot stand to be on that side of the camera lens myself.)  But she is just so beautiful - and so photogenic. 

It is unreal how often I will sit upstairs where I keep the photo albums and go through - remembering each moment of when each photo was taken.  And that is what I want to for others when I am behind the lens.  It has never excited me to look at photographs that were taken in a studio setting - although I do know that at times they are necessary. But they don't tell a story.  They don't hold a moment or much of a memory.  I want to capture the moments that are full of memories.  The faces a baby makes...those sweet cries or tears.  Or capture the look between a mother and her child...the love in her eyes, and the adoration in that child's eyes.  Of a husband looking adoringly at his wife, as she is carrying their most precious possession - a child.  To catch children when they are playing - and their personalities showing in the photos taken... or an older couple who have shared so many years together, and still love to sit quietly with one another - so many memories of the years between them that show in their glances at one another.  Or the tears of a girl as she's leaving her home to begin that new chapter in her life as someone's wife...realizing it's harder than she thought to leave her Mom and Dad and all that is so comfortable and familiar to her, yet excited beyond words for the journey she has now begun.  My favorite photos of my kids are the ones where I was able to sneak up on them and snap the picture - catching them in a moment of mischief, or quietness, sleeping or even crying.  Those are the photos that have captured the moment... that hold part of the story.  And that is what I want to offer for those who bring me in as their photographer.   This is my passion....

Also visit my Beyond the Photography by DonnaKay blogspot... a little better way to get to know more about me personally...

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