There is an image that I took while I was holding my daughter, Isla when she was 12 days old. I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of love. I so very much enjoyed the baby stage. I loved everything about holding her and caring for her. I loved watching her sleep and feeling her warmth as I held her. I remember the filtered light coming through the window on this day. I made a conscious decision in my mind to remember this feeling. I took a picture in hope that years down the road, viewing this image would bring me right back to that emotion, so far it has.
(Isla, 12 days old, July 28, 2014, taken with iphone 6)
“Why do you have to take pictures of everything? Can’t you just enjoy the moment?” This was a question that a friend asked me quite some years back.
As long as I can remember, I have always had a camera in tow. Not only on trips, but every get together with friends, or hidden safely in my car for ‘just in case’ events. Back then I had a 35mm point and shoot camera or would sometimes grab my dad’s old Canon FTb SLR.
When those words were said, it really made me question my why? In my heart I felt like I was enjoying the moment but maybe I wasn’t fully taking in all that I could because I was looking through a viewfinder.
It was not until now, many years later that I have come to realize that photography does fully allow me to enjoy the moment. It may not be how everyone does but it is the way I see the world. I have always been a visual person. I see things in colors, in shapes, in textures, in light and in emotions. I see things in moments captured in time.
Photography ignites an excitement in me to remember those moments.
When the fresh snow starts falling in March, everyone else sees a prolonged winter; I see the beauty in the way the light sparkles on the snow or the frost on the tree branches.
On a rainy day when everyone else sees dreary weather, I see raindrops on the leaves and the beauty of what remains as the skies start to clear.
Photography has truly allowed me to see beauty in the simple things. It has given me a sense of appreciation for life and everything in it. And it has allowed me to preserve precious memories that I hold dear.
So after all these years, I always knew my ‘why’ but have only been able to express it now.
Taking in the beauty of nature,
Summer ~ I remember the smell of the rain and how beautiful the light was. The colors of the leaves were so bright and the rain drops were so perfectly placed.
Spring ~ There were so many colorful blossoms. They were just in full bloom and only lasted a day before the wind took them away… and that fresh floral smell…
Winter ~ It was so cold this day. I could barely keep my gloves off for any length of time but the frost and the light were calling…
