Evolution of a Momtog | Ft Myers Children Photographer

I have always taken lots of pictures.  My parents got me a camera when I was ten and I became the self proclaimed photographer for every event, every vacation, every site scene on every vacation, every bug that interested me, every friend I ever had, etc., etc., etc...I took lots of pictures.  I had one of those polaroid rectangular camera that you had to put a square shaped flash cube on top that flashed 4 times per cube.  I still have it somewhere and I think it still works. 

 

 I used to scrapbook. I scrapped everyone of those vacation, family, friend photos into those amazing albums with sticky pages...that eat away at your photos and eventually had to be taken out and stored in boxes!  Then, scrapbooking revolutionized!  It became acid free, and sooo creative!  I fell in love with it!  I redid all those old albums.  Some I redid exactly as they had been with the safer materials, others I got creative with.  I scrapped my courtship with my sweetheart, my wedding and our children.  At one time I had four children age 4 and under...a 4 yr old, twin two year olds and a newborn! 

 

 

Still,  I took LOTS of pictures and I scrapbooked!  I actually had prints made and put them in chronological albums.  They all have albums..... up until they are 6.  My baby turned 10 yesterday!

 As we sat and looked through her albums, guilt and panic set in...Four years behind...on just hers!  Oh My goodness! How did I keep up back then and not now?  How did I get so far behind?  Then I took a breath and started thinking.

 

 I used to only take pictures of my own kids, lots of pictures.  I used to have a film camera, a Minotla 35 mm.  I love that camera!  I will not part with it...even if it does just sit in my closet.  I sent in the little rolls to be developed and everything.  I have boxes...and boxes of prints.  I have blurry prints, over exposed prints, underexposed prints, no one is looking at the camera prints...and yes, I have some really great prints too.

 

(This is a picture of a picture)

 

Then one Christmas, 2004, I got a little Sony Cybershot point and shoot.  The transition from film to digital was a little exhilarating, freeing but also a little sad. In the beginning, I still got prints made of digital files, but I only printed the good ones.  My boxes of photos started getting smaller.  Then I got a Sony a100 35mm DSLR and started shooting RAW.  The images sat on the computer unedited for long periods of time because of the overwhelming task of editing and that was just my own kids.  I got Photoshop and started the process of leaning.  Ten years later, I am still in that process!  There is sooooo much to learn always!  Which is a good thing, but I have to say, sometimes I really miss the simplicity of getting what you get...I do not miss the disappointment that sometimes came when I would excitedly open the pack of 24!  I learned, I practiced, I edited!  More and More often I would order prints and know exactly what I was getting and was thrilled to open the packages and see perfect pictures of the most important things I had ever done, starting up at me.

 

 

 

I loved taking pictures, I loved scrapbooking them.   I talked about that love and began sharing that love.  More and more often I was asked to take pictures of others.  Back in the day my "thing" was white tulle.  Mommy/baby pictures in white tulle.  It was all I did for others.  It was what I did for me...

 

 

I loved it.  I loved it then...Looking at it now, I see soooooo many things I would have done differently....but the heart of it, the emotion of it, the love captured, would have stayed exactly the same!  As I looked over the scrapbooks of my baby girl she grew up before my eyes(well...up til 6).  I was transported to that time, I could pull up those feelings and memories like they were yesterday.  I reflected on the pictures I took for myself and the pictures I now take for others.  I still feel guilty for getting behind, but I am so happy for the many opportunities I have had to give others memories captured in minutes but that will last forever.  How amazing is that?  it is incredible to me to be able to be a part of that because I am a professional photographer.  Oh, there are soooooo many out there with skill sets higher than mine and they inspire me to be greater than I am today. I still am a word of mouth photographer, and that works for me.  I do not shoot or edit for a full time job,  but I still take pictures.  Lots of pictures, shot in RAW, that need to be edited, for me, and for others.  So, my scrapbooks are a bit behind, my house my be at times disorderly and at times I may be crazier than usual,  but it is ok for now.  I took a breath.  I let go of the guilt and I took ownership of the opportunities of a professional photographer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Myers Family Photographer | My own Family

Photography is amazing!  I love to capture a special moment but more importantly, I love to capture the feeling of the moment!  This summer I focused on photographing my own family.  We took a few vacations and while I am no landscape photographer, I did some research and then tried to put it into practice on our trip.  If you know me, you know my happy place is the beach, however, I also truly love the mountains and this summer we were able to take a trip to Tennessee for a wedding but also got in some great hiking, white water rafting, exploring, Dollywood and a wild west photo session!  All in all, I'd say it was a picture perfect vacation!! While these are just a few of the pictures I took (I've gone through about 3000 already), they just give a small taste of the fun times and memories we created.  As I sat here going through them all, I felt the smile that was plastered on my face as the images took me right back to those mountains. I could almost smell the fresh air and hear the kids voices as they excitedly squealed with delight or tried the new whistle their Dad taught them that he learned from his grandpa to use when they were in the woods together.   THAT is what photography is about and THAT is why I love it!

 

 

 This was the second part of our stay in the mountains.  At this one, the rest of our family joined us as well as the wedding party!

I am a sucker for wildflowers and details!  I loved this little birdhouse!

While we were busy most of the time, we also took time to just chill, relax and...whittle!

This hike was to Laurel Falls.

This one was taken in Cade's Cove. 

 Sometimes when you give your camera to a random stranger so you can be in the shot, ...you take what you get:)  

 Now these pictures were so exciting for me as I was playing with my settings to get a desired effect and IT WORKED! 

 This one reminded me of a fairytale story.

 we found a little spot to have some fun playing in the water.  This spot made a kind of water slide but as you can clearly tell from my brother's face, the water was a bit chilly for our Florida blood.  It didn't stop the kids from shooting down the water, but lets just say they did it quickly!  LOL.

I could not get enough of the beautiful scenery!

Many years ago my husband and I got the chance to go to Hawaii.  While we were there we saw these little rock towers everywhere we went.  We added a few of our own but also decided to find out more about them.  I don't know why that was the first time we had ever seen them, or maybe it was just the first time we had ever noticed because sice then, we have seen them all over our travels. The research I did came up with these various reasons why these little towers are built: 

 

• to invoke protection by various cultures
• to connect the earthly with the spiritual
• as an altar
• for wish forming for oneself or family, with each rock representing a wish
• to mark trails
• as a way of marking ‘I was here’
• on graves to stop scavengers or as a mark of respect
• for fun

We did it for fun and to add our own mark on the world naturally.  So, here in Tennessee on the trail to Ramsey cascade we left our tower.

Everyone loves nature....This guy was enjoying watching us play in the water.....I DID NOT enjoy watching him.....but I did until we left to make sure he stayed put! 

We also enjoyed some fun time in Gatlinburg.  I have always wanted to do this type of photo so my husband found a groupon and off we went.  It was a blast!  This one was taken by Wild West Photos in Gatlinburg.

 We also spent some time on the water and in the air with white water rafting and ziplining.  I did not take my camera to the treetops so I do not have those terrifying moments documented...but they were fun...when we weren't trying to gasp oxygen from climbing a mile's worth of steps!!!
However, the rafting company got these shots..there were several shots but this one was the best of them with everyone looking...In most of the other ones my Dad is somewhere inside the boat and my youngest son is looking terrified!  In ALL of them my husband is yahooing!  :)  It was a good day!

 

As for the trip in it's entirety, including my nieces wedding...(which I already blogged earlier), this picture completely sums up the whole experience!  I love this little munchkin!  Sophie Jean puts the exclamation point on what was an epic family vacation!  :)

 

Tennessee May 2014