A feeling like no other...

One of the greatest things about doing something you are passionate about is knowing a sense of freedom in your work. A long time ago I sat in a dark room creating images on paper, using chemicals to produce art, it was a feeling like none other, it gave me a way to create things that I saw in my mind but could not draw or paint with my hands. Instead, I could use my eyes and my mind to create what I saw. Art in all it's forms is freedom for so many. Until the day someone put a camera in my hand I felt frustrated and without an outlet. I can't draw, I can't paint, I can't sing, I can't dance, thus my creative spirit turned to acting as it's outlet. I auditioned and got into a school of the arts, only to move to another city before I had a chance to really develop my skills. I still studied drama but the classes were nothing like I had been used to at the school of the arts I attended and I became bored with it.

I didn't pick that art form up again until I was in Austria, and there it was given a chance to be enjoyed and for a short time I once again had an outlet. You see, as much as I had loved shooting photos with my camera, I had no dark room, and photography became an expense I could not afford.

Then came the digital age, photography once again became accessible to me. I still remember my parents coming for a visit to Austria and bringing me a digital camera. That gift, though they don't know it, re sparked my passion and gave me a chance to create again. The freedom I had once known returned in a way that even acting could never do for me. We went to Venice, it was my first trip with my new camera and what a fabulous place for a photographer. The old city, the crumbling buildings, the canals and water logged streets, not to mention the stunning glass in every store front. It was all candy for the eyes and my camera and I ate with relish.

After that my camera and I were never parted (well, except for the time I went snowboarding and fell down a ravine and lost it in a snowbank - but that's another story and the camera got replaced quickly enough).

Today I did a shoot that reminded me why I love family photography, the kids were amazing, the family a joy to work with. The minute I showed up at their door I felt welcomed and felt like I had met new friends. I snapped pictures for over an hour but it seemed life five minutes. I could have shot all day, I love having new models, new locations to work out, lighting to figure out and ultimately I love sitting down at the end of the day and going through the shots, finessing them in the editing suites.

I started my day off in a not so great mood, I had been sick yesterday, got little sleep last night and was woken very early this morning. The drive to the shoot was in dark clouds and they matched my mood and then I began to shoot and the sun came out and just like the sun that was now shining my spirits lifted and I knew that this is what I am supposed to be doing, this is something I can feel proud of, this is something that I find passion in and ultimately therein lies freedom, just to be me.