photography...

I don't know when I first started to love taking pictures. I think back when I used to watch my mom develop pictures while she was taking a photography class and maybe the awe of watching a blank piece of paper dipped into different tubs of smelly chemicals and evolve into a picture might have something to do with it. Or maybe it was the fact that my dad loved, loved, loved to take pictures. In fact, I still have his very old and somewhat archaic camera and lenses. It was kind of running family joke that he loved to take pictures of sunsets and flowers. I remember watching slide shows and picture after picture of yet another sunset or flower would come over and over again. We laughed, but I appreciate his wonder of God's most beautiful artworks. Maybe me taking pictures now sort of gives me a connection to him, since I didn't know him very well or spend much time with him as a child.

I'm not a professional photographer and I don't aspire or pretend to be. I simply enjoy taking pictures and enjoy looking at pictures others take. I have 2 friends who are professional photographers. I am continually amazed by their creativity, ingenuity and utter talent. They inspire me to be a better "non-professional" photographer.

I think I mostly enjoy taking pictures of children and nature. What God has created really does show evidence of He who created it- it's undeniable. You can't look at amazing sunset or beautiful intricate flower and just say that it came about by chance. That's like saying that Monet's paintings came about in the perfect way just randomly. You would be discounting the very artist who designed that beautiful sunset purely for your enjoyment.

I really like my camera because for me who does not know diddly squat about what I am doing, it makes it look like I do. My photo-software really helps too.

I hope to one day be able to take a digital photography class, but for now, I will just enjoy not really knowing what I am doing, but taking pictures for the pure joy of it! I also hope to scrapbook all the pictures I have taken and make a book for each one of our children. All that may have to be saved for the day when I am not homeschooling, working and juggling other hats.

But for now, here are a few "snapshots" of our life...