There is a lot of pressure on photographers these days because the market is becoming saturated and clogged. With the advent of affordable DSLRs and technology, there has been a movement towards the art of using light and time to preserve history. I am happy - truly - that there are so many people who enjoy photography. After all, isn't that how most of us started? We saw some image and said, "I want to try that!" Some of us got addicted and have been snapping away ever since. It is easy to get lost in the business, though. It is important to keep up with marketing, new products, branding, etc., but I believe it is just as important to realize why we continue to shoot. I am a photographer for the love of it. I love being with brides and grooms as they take their first steps into the next chapter of their young life. I love being with families who have five children running and screaming around a field, trying to assemble for a photo. I love knowing that part of my identity is wrapped up in preserving history, for myself and others.
When I remember this, I get a handle on my perspective again. I shoot for fun, for love, because shooting for anything less is selling out. I am a photographer because of pictures like the one below- a piece of history that I will carry with me for years to come until my son has his own camera. Then I will teach him how to feel the photograph, how to sense the light, how to calculate the moment, how to wrap his hands around time and stop it; how to love the art.
