Gettin' to the basics!

{warning: this could be a long one}

The basics of my love for photography...really where the passion began.

Now if you have read my "about me" section and know me....that is a bit of a corny write up of myself! When I read it I can't help but think cheesy. As cheesy as it may be sound, all the loves are true and what truly makes me smile each time I pass a picture. However, if I truly had to admit where my love for photography began it was with landscapes and, I guess, weird aspects of landscapes.


I have always been drawn to textures, lines, simplicity, funky lighting, and abstract composition. This all began back in my film days with my ol' 35mm SLR (which happens to be collecting dust)...back when I burned through film like wood on a bonfire. I was queen for taking roadtrips, like 2 hours or more roadtrips. And on each road trip, I was lucky enough not to drive off a cliff as I was scanning the landscape for the beauty and lighting I craved. And the ditz that I can be, I rarely had my camera along for the ride. Which lead to me driving back to "that spot" that I knew I could get "that fix" from the beauty I saw and craved to capture. {side not: I typically had someone with me for my excursion, and I often heard jokes being made about what I was photographing.} But in the end, it didn't matter if anyone liked my pictures...I loved them! And to this day, I still see those pictures and think of all the little moments that led up to "that" beauty that was captured.


Now why have I gotten so deep here, you ask!? Well, I have a wall in my house that has been decorated with my favorite landscapes. Within the past few weeks, I've come to realize my walls can't keep up with the showcased pictures of my darlings. So, one by one, I've been replacing my landscape portraits with my babies. I'm truly feeling some sort of grief as I don't remember when I turned my back on my love for landscape photography and monopolized it with portrait photography. Which lead me back to one of the most amazing pieces of advice I received from a photographer friend, way back when. It was to the effect of...."when a passion becomes a job, it can become just that...a job. Unless, the right balance between feeding the creative cravings and sharing it with others is found." And to continue to photograph what I love and how I love to capture it...always reminding me where my love began.


Each day, I seem to be driving somewhere. And with each trip, I share the car ride with chit chatting with my babies and staring out the window, finding beauty all around me. The kind of beauty that gives me a rush in thinking of how it would photograph. So here I am, gettin' back to my photography basics. Back before I really knew what apeture, ISO, exposure, and shutter settings all were. And while the natural lighting these past few days have just been scrumptious, delumptious...my hubby and I loaded up the kidlets and had a photography field trip. My husband laughed at the rush I would get after each picture I took...often acting like a 14 year old boy at the thought of someone he knew driving by and seeing us! But, in the end, he really saw the love I have for photography and I guess really understood it as my "drug of choice." I'm addicted.


While a few of the favorite landscapes on my wall are Aspens, the bark and grain of wood, windmills, windows, remaining trees from the Rodeo fire and Alcatraz. Here is a different type of landscape that is new for me but I just wanted to photograph.

I have a tendency to shoot wide open, in f-stops that is, and love the depth of field! I can be, actually in denial that I really am, a perfectionist with my photography. Photographing "a subject" that isn't moving was very different but allowed the creativity to try different settings.

And...if you haven't noticed a pattern...I always try to tie in texture with each location I photograph at. So I guess I didn't totally shut the door on my love for landscape...just a different type. If you lasted through this post long enough to read this...thank you, thank you deeply for reading!