The Beginning

This is a product of my very first photo shoot - EVER. I love her eyes set against the deep purple colors!

September 4, 2013

The beginning of my adventure into photography has begun. In keeping with his treat-his-wife-like-a-princess style, my husband bought me the DSLR I have have been pining for as a 7-Year Anniversary present. My sister decided her daughter, Ellie, would be a fabulous subject for my first EVER photo shoot. In the recent years, Ellie started a love affair with horses and my sister wanted to assure she documented these moments in her daughter's life. I was scared to death - after all,  I am a control freak and horses are not in my repertoire. It was decided I would need a practice run before going head on with a horse! I am certain I will never forget the first few moments out of the car at Toledo Botanical Gardens, reflector and camera in tow, feeling overwhelmed and crazy to believe I could ever obtain professional photographic results after only 6 months of reading a few books. Heck, people obtain a 4-year degree in this field! I was certainly nuts. Seeing the myriad of professional photographers, especially the guy misting the flowers to achieve the dew "look", was enough to send me flying back into the car with my camera straps between my legs. Nevertheless, I could not disappoint my niece and cousin; they had spent over an hour primping in the mirror preparing for the fun! 

I am my own worst critic, so I know these photographs would be torn apart by most professionals. But, man did I have a blast. For a few hours I forgot that most of my days are filled with dishes, dirty diapers, and bill opening. And the responses from my friends and family once the first few photos were posted to Facebook (after calming the nerves from presenting my "work" to the Facebook world) put a smile on my face that lasted for days. (If you were lying - thank you for loving me enough to lie!)