Growing pains and developing your craft

One of my goals this year has been to be more deliberate in my approach to life. Not only deliberate but actively planning and seeking out the things that I am passionate about doing, instead of going along with whatever comes my way. Don't get me wrong being on the parent train is fun and an awesome responsibility but sometimes not being able to do what activates my soul creatively can be frustrating. Part of that process has been to purge the things that do not bring me joy or add value to my life. So I have been purging, rearranging and as others might say tidying up. Making more room for creative projects and activities. Same goes for my hard drive space and images of things that do not add value to my life. As a result, I've come across an abundance of old photographs. (I will likely blog about them in the future.) Some of the images are sentimental, some funny, some sad and some are flat out painful. Which is how I came up with the content for this post. (tee hee)

In the beginning.

When I was a preteen living in south central LA I purchased my first camera. I saved literally every penny I could find, underneath the sofa cushions, on the sidewalks, and a large portion from my ginormous teal-blue piggy bank.

Yes this is the actual piggy bank.

I saved until I had the exact amount so I could run down to the local Kmart and buy a Kodak Colorburst Instant camera with the rainbow straps. Debra, my uncles girlfriend who worked behind the counter, sold it to me. I went with my surprised father. He couldn't believe I had saved enough money to buy a camera.

My childhood snaps.

It was different, it was new, it was the only thing I really wanted at the time. That’s how the love affair started. The fascination with snapping moments, culling for the best images and putting them in sacred albums for safekeeping. The best part were pictures that developed in a few seconds and the very un-sophisticated way of fanning my hands to process each little square film. Photos have always had special meaning to me. As time progressed I had no idea just how important pictures would become.

At various points in my life, I have owned several different camera types. A point and shoot, film cameras and easy to use disposable cameras. But I had never owned a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. I had always wanted one but they were always so expensive. So, by the time my kids were born I wanted to document all their milestones and capture their special moments. I invested in my first prosumer style camera, a Panasonic zoom with professional features. It was a simple user-friendly camera and at the time it was all I needed to document my kids and take photos of my handmade boutique baby items that I use to sell on Etsy. I was pretty satisfied until I moved onto my first Digital SLR (DSLR), a Nikon D50 with a 35mm Prime Lens. I about lost my mind. I had so much to learn. I found myself needing bigger and wider lenses just to keep up with my kids and my in-law's kids events and activities. I became that mom. I would take the action shots when they were in school and became the unofficial school photographer. It was fun. Then it hit me when people began requesting that I should photograph their weddings and family portraits. The idea that maybe I am good enough to photograph people more seriously. I enjoyed the outdoors and shooting landscapes but even then I knew my personality had its limits. I’m introverted and the idea of interacting with people really freaked me out. But I wasn’t so scared that I was going to let it prevent me from doing something I loved. How could I? I love taking photos and capturing moments.

Fast forward.

I have been a professional photographer for about 6 years now. It has been an ever-evolving process. Learning to effectively engage with clients but to also improve my skill set, hone my craft and acquire additional professional equipment. Recently I was booked to photograph a first communion. It was an awesome experience. Young kids are great and so precious. It reminded me of my own daughter’s first communion. So, when I came across photos from her first communion. It was quite scary. It was a “whew, what the heck was I doing?” moment. I hadn't fully understood light, the exposure triangle and shooting in RAW. The thing is when I began shooting in Manual mode, I was controlling the outcome and not allowing the camera to do it for me. Once I purchased a full-frame camera I could no longer rely on Auto mode anything to capture my subjects. Learning to control everything in Manual mode is where I grew as a photographer. "Get it right in the camera", as my mentor Danielle Finney says. I spend less time editing and feel more confident and satisfied with my final results.

Comparing to where I am now as a photographer. Its night and day. Even the images taken five years later in 2015 at my niece’s first communion are vastly different.

My daughters communion circa 2010. (before going professional)

My niece's first communion circa 2015.

I feel that I have grown tremendously as a photographer. Both technically and artistically. Photography is a creative art form, which like anything has to be repeated consistently over and over in order to improve. I had to be open to trying new things and find better ways to achieve a better outcome for what I envisioned. Even though I may cringe at some of my previous work, I know it was only the beginning and I would eventually grow from my mistakes with time and patience. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to play some part in documenting moments that become so important to people for so many reasons. I'll continue to strive to bring out the best in my clients.

Only time will tell how my images will look in the next 6 years. "Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection." ~Mark Twain

**Side note I still own an instant camera it's a #Fuji #Instax. Some loves never die. Shake, shake, shake....

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~Melody

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Images Copyrighted by Mahogany Rose Photography