My middle son turned 12 at 7:29 a.m this morning. As my children have grown, birthday's are still a celebration, but for me, they are also about years of memories. Children grow so fast day to day and I love to scrapbook. With Backwoods Photography booming like it has been these past few years, I don't have the time I'd like to preserve our memories but I do love looking back on days like this. I decided to scan some older photos of my boy and post them to my personal facebook page today. As I was doing that, it occurred to me that not only are those memories of his early life, they are also the documentation of my early life as a photographer. Taking good portraits of my children was my first step towards becoming a professional in the field.
That being said, here is a sampling of my first years as a photographer. Back then, I was using a Canon Rebel 35mm. I learned quickly to wait to push the shutter button because I couldn't afford to waste more than one roll of film per shoot. I am so glad I learned this way because even now with digital, I can feel when I push the button the "rightness" of a shot and move on from there. I don't have to press my shutter button 100 times hoping, I can push it twice and know that I got what I wanted. These are also completely unedited with the exception of the lower right hand one that was taken last year.
These photos of my son range from 2002-2008. The infant photo I didn't take, Wal-Mart did and actually it was the breaking point for me as far as doing it myself went. It is the last portrait of one of my children taken by someone else other than school or a whole family photo.
I also quickly realized I loved capturing my children at that time in their lives. If you notice above, the top left photo, my son is on the back of a caboose. At 2 and 3 there wasn't anything he loved more than trains. In the upper middle, he loved his "ranger" and hanging out fishing and hunting with his Pop. Below is one of my three middle children all in camo and while it's never going to win any awards, I love this photo because I can remember this day clearly still. Lake Atalanta, taking these photos and eating elotes out of a blue van that used to sell delicious Mexican snacks at the park that year.
It's good to remember and great to capture these moments with your children.
To see more of my visions check out
my facebook site and thank you for taking time
to read my on again, off again ramblings.
Angie
