Just the beginning | birmingham, al wedding & portrait photographer

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Hey!  Welcome to my blog…my little slice of internet heaven.  I’m ridiculously happy that you’re here & I hope you’ll stick around a while to check things out and get to know me a little!  You might even want to head over to my website to take a peek at some of my favorite images as well as my all time favorite things.  But first, I’d like to introduce myself.  So, in honor of my very 1st blog post, I would like to tell you about how I became a photographer.  So, grab a cup of coffee or tea or coca-cola or whatever tickles your fancy…sit back and enjoy!

I’ve never thought of myself as an artist, or even remotely artistic for that matter.  When I thought of art, I thought of drawings, paintings, design and music.  The only thing I can draw are stick figures; the only thing I can paint are my fingernails (and not very well); I can design the heck out of…well, nothing; and I sound UH-MAY-ZING when I’m alone in my car singing at the top of my lungs with the radio blasting…seriously, I sound JUST like whoever is on my radio at any given moment.  It’s unbelievable, really…I have a gift.  So, anyway, needless to say, I’ve never considered myself an artist.  Then, one day a facebook friend sent me a message asking if I had gone to art school.  Ummmmmmmm, huh? Me? HA!!! No way! I’m the least artistic person I know!!  She then proceeded to tell me that I was wrong; that she loved the pictures she had seen on facebook and that I had such an “artistic eye.”  I was blown away.  My world was rocked.  Then, I went back to blow-drying my hair and thought to myself “Nah, she doesn’t know me very well.  She doesn’t know just how UN-artistic I really am.  Hmmmmm…”  A seed had been planted.  As time went on, I started thinking more and more about photography.  Everywhere I looked, I saw a beautiful image just waiting to be captured.  I started noticing other people’s photographs as well and realized that some were good, some were great, some were out of this world Amazeballs and some were just plain awful and when compared to some, mine were definitely NOT in the awful category.  So that was it.  I decided, after much deliberation and research, to purchase my 1st DSLR camera.  A Canon Rebel Xsi.  Best.  Decision.  EVER.  I scoured the internet and bookstores for information.  I had this awesome camera and I had no idea how to use it.  I was determined NEVER to put the dial on “Auto.”  I could take decent “auto” pictures on my little point & shoot.  No.  Absolutely not.  That wasn’t what this big, fancy, expensive camera was for.  So, I learned the basics of exposure, shutter speed, aperture (what the heck is aperture?!), & ISO and began shooting everything in sight.  Flowers, fire hydrants, grass, rocks, signs, bushes, the list goes on and on.  You name it, I probably have a picture of it.  It has been almost 4 years since I first purchased my camera and I have learned a lot, but I also know that there is infinitely more for me to learn.  One thing I have learned is that my facebook friend was right.  I am artisitc…in my own way.  You may or may not agree, and that’s ok.  It took me a long time to believe her, but here I am…and I believe her.  I hope you do, too!

I also hope that you will continue to come back and follow me on this crazy ride  as I start a business.  I know there is so much to learn and I’m sure I’ll fall on my face a few times, so you might want to stick around even it’s just to point and laugh!