“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
~ Dorothea Lange
I love taking portraits. I’ve had opportunities, assignments and fun shoots where I/we photograph landscapes and products. But my eyes will always look for faces. I look for that sense of connection in a person’s expression. I was searching for a set of past photographs the other night, and I stumbled on a few old portraits I took a couple of years back. I went through them and picked out some that I thought I would want to share here in my new online home. So grateful for everyone who became my willing victim for these shoots…. kidding! 🙂
I would love to believe I’m a dreamer. Yes I am a doer, I don’t just sit around waiting for things to happen. But at the core, everything starts out with a dream. And as someone who just really loves to take photos, I have a list of portraits I would LOVE to be able to take in my lifetime. I have that list tucked away somewhere in my online drawer, and once in awhile I add to it, and I cross some items out.
Seeing some of the photos I did in the past, I was reminded as well of how my style changed and yet still stays the same even after a few years. From vivid colors, the treatment on how I post process images, the mood that speaks to me… it changed a lot. And I love how it changed, because it means I was rediscovering and reinventing myself as I enjoy this journey of taking photographs. I have so many “bad” photos, but I kept most of them because they serve as a reminder on where and how I would want to improve. Isn’t that what Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” How true, if we truly love something (or someone! hah! **sappy sappy**) we will always try to be better because something good deserves nothing but our best.
But one thing never changed, I would always choose to take photographs of expressions and faces and emotions. I don’t think I will ever outgrow that. I will still take photos of anything that moves, because I truly find happiness clicking my camera away…. but given the choice, I will take portraits, and to see the beauty in everything…. and hopefully show my subject the beauty that I see in them.
“Life is your art.
An open, aware heart is your camera.
A oneness with your world is your film.
Your bright eyes and easy smile is your museum.”
~ Ansel Adams
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