Self Assignment

I started photographing when I was 6 years old with my grandmas 110 film camera. It was love at first sight and I was asking her to sign me up for a NYI course at 9. She laughed and said wait a few years! After all 500 bucks was a lot of money to invest... so she bought me a polaroid camera and supplied me with film. As I got into high school my love deepened when my mom gave me her Pentax K1000 my 8th grade year. Lots of photos of my cats later I evolved to landscapes and people *gasp*. This was a great form of self expression since my parents had divorced and my new stepfather was an artist. He taught me to watercolor, paint and other things art related. As I entered high school I applied for the yearbook staff (yes I was ambitious as a freshman) and was DENIED! bummer! Anyway so I persevered and kept it up. My early inspiration was fashion and I still am very inspired by that today. After doing "modeling" shoots with a lot of my friends and learning the darkroom I started getting compliments. I knew I was on the right track when the photo lab started complimenting them. woohoo! I reapplied for the yearbook and newspaper, newspaper accepted and yearbook again denied, but I got the last laugh when they started asking me to go on assignments too because all of their staff photos were blurry. :D After high school I continued into college where I studied under one of the greatest reportage photographers in Ft. Worth, Peter Fereston. He was a flirty older man and was absolutely delightful. His work is archived at the Amon Carter. He saw something in me and displayed me in my first "gallery exhibit" in our hall on campus. :D I continued pursuing my dream after I married and moved overseas and then when I came back kicked it up a notch. My business has grown steady and the last 2 years was completely overwhelming for a one man operation. I have studied under some true masters of the art/craft and realized after a life changing seminar that somewhere along the line, I had let go of myself and my passion. I love my work don't get me wrong, but that first love was superceded by production, marketing, and the cares of life. With it part of me was gone as well, replaced by a new stressed out, high strung and grumpy version! ACK! Lord help us! So what is a girl to do? Well, this girl decided to scale back, only take the work I truly love, spend more time with those I love and focus on the craft. This is where our journey begins. I am going to start a few self assignments that will become a collection. Phase 1 is going to be shot through my grandfathers rangefinder provided it is still operational! :D for 30 days we are shooting FILM! My first love. I am so excited to bring the passion back to my work so that I can bring new vision and excitement to my clients this is one of many changes here this year. Stay tuned for exciting, artistic and passionate images that help me find what I lost. Let's begin. Looking forward to serving you with more creativity and attention in 2012.