Life. Is. Beautiful.

  I was at an awesome photography workshop a couple days ago. I learned a TON of technical information. I learned new terms, new techniques, new ways to look at things. It was amazing to be a sponge and just absorb all of that knowledge. I could talk for days and dive deeper into all the “stuff” I learned, but I took away more from that workshop than learning “stuff”. Being with “your people,” standing in a group of people “like you,” talking about a passion that you share and hearing how everyone got started, you wouldn't believe how amazing it was.

We started with typical awkward intros “Hiiiii Malloryyyy!” like it was an AA meeting and telling everyone why we started photography. Some people dug deep and poured out their souls, some people skipped details (like my friend who didn’t happen to mention that part of what really drove her to love photography was losing all of her precious family photos in a house fire), and some people (like me) said, “I don't know, I just kinda like it. I just kinda started because it looked fun” and it’s been on my mind ever since.  I don’t just “kinda” like it.

I’m passionate. I love what I’m doing. It’s not a hobby.
I. Am. A. Photographer.

   That last sentence ^ That title ^ “Photographer” ^ Since I’ve started photography I’ve been wishing that there’s a test of some sort that you have to pass to be able to call yourself that, some sort of real official certificate, a rite of passage. Well, there sorta is…. It’s knowing your own worth. I had to find my worth within myself, believe in my work, and claim my value.  The guy that led the workshop did a little demonstration on self-worth, showing us that even a muddy, wadded up $20 bill was still worth $20.  I’m a fresh 5 months into the photography business, so I feel like a $20 hot off the press. There are times that I’m so new, I’ll get stuck to another bill and overlooked, but as I get myself out there, passed around, people will see my potential. I know nothing can prepare me for the days that I get trampled on, drug through the mud, but now I know that I’ll still be that same $20 bill. I know my worth.

   I’ve worked hard and studied hard to learn what I know. I’m not claiming to know everything. Hell. I’m just starting to learn (and I’m so excited that photography is limitless so I never have to stop learning), but working side by side with some (flipping amazing omg-I-can’t-believe-I’m-working-next-to-these-people) photographers, knowing what they were talking about, seeing what they were seeing, and feeling like I belonged there, was SO powerful to me. I can’t thank them enough for helping me open up my eyes.

   I had mentioned that my inspiration for starting photography was weighing on my mind after not having a clear answer. I found it. I know why I love photography. More specifically, I have found why I fell in love with lifestyle photography, why I want to document the way I see life. Life Is Beautiful. As simple as that. Maybe I live my life wearing rose tinted glasses, but I always notice something beautiful everywhere I look.  Those beautiful moments are often overlooked in everyday chaos. People miss these moments and they’re gone. They’re in the past. I want to bring that beauty to the now. I want my photos to take away my clients breath. I want my clients to see my photos and want to cling to that moment, and Be. Present.  I want to show my clients that their Life. Is. Beautiful.

Ecclesiastes 3:11a “He has made everything beautiful in its time”