Painting with Light

This year must be the year of self discovery or some such nonsense. Maybe turning thirty isn't such a bad thing.

Today's topic: Photography.

It's no secret I like to take pictures. I have enjoyed photography since I got my first point and shoot when I was eight years old, and I've been working on it ever since. I've gotten much more serious about it in the last few years, thanks to the invention of the affordable DSLR. In the 2 1/2 years I've owned my beloved Nikon D90, I've taken thousands upon thousands of photos. I've done some shoots for family and friends, and while I don't dislike doing that, I've never felt the calling to make photography a career.

Even though my mom and Seth like to nag me about it.

For awhile I've wondered why that is. If I love photography so much and I spend so much time working to get better at it, why wouldn't I want to be paid to do it?

Am I just that lazy?

Well, yes and no. Owning your own business is a lot of work, not to mention a business that is literally overflowing with competition. Everyone and their mother has a photography business. Digital photography and editing has taken a lot of the work out of getting a decent photo. In order to really make it though, you have to have an eye AND technical mastery, not to mention photoshop and some fairly expensive equipment. In short, it's an investment in time and money. And let's face it, as a homeschooling mother of three, if I'm going to be taking large chunks of time away from my day to day life for shooting and editing, it had better be my all consuming passion.

And shooting families and weddings and babies isn't my passion.

Again, it's not that I mind doing those things, but they aren't what draws me into photography. I realized this as I was looking through my own photos as well as the ones I've favorited on flickr. The vast majority of photos I love shooting and looking at are not posed shots of families. I'm drawn to photos of things--architecture and nature and patterns. The shots I love of people are usually journalistic in nature. And black and white. I love black and white.

I've narrowed down the cause of this. I blame my father.

I grew up surrounded by good photography, thanks to my dad. He was a lot like I am. He did occasionally shoot a wedding and there was no shortage of posed shots of our family (usually with him in the middle of saying "three"), but most of my dad's shots are nature or candids. I wonder if mom nagged him to make it a career too.

Here are some of my dad's shots that I stole without permission, but I don't know if he reads my blog, so we just won't tell him! I love these because they aren't posed portraits, but rather a photo journalistic look at his life. I'm particularly proud of how these photos show that my dad rocked photography before it was digital and edited to the gills.

My sister, Mandy

My Grammy, Edna

My sister, Jenny

My mom, Linda

My great-grandmother, May 

My mom and a bird.

My Grandpa, Whalen

The Grand Canyon

Lake Huron, Ontario

Lake Superior, Michigan

Without even realizing it, I've been emulating my dad's style, inadvertently using the same angles and composition that I have been looking at all my life. And I'm grateful for it, because my dad has a really good eye.

So, if I ever was to make a go at this photography thing, my niche would be photo journalistic or artistic advertising, if there is such a thing. Or the White House photographer. Ya know, realistic goals.

But now that I know what my style and goals are as a photographer, I have a couple projects in mind. All I need are willing subjects. We shall see.

PS: You can check out more of my dad's photography on flickr.