sneak peak first, then apology.

Here is the growing Mills family.
You'll see more of them later. More because I'll be finishing up their maternity session and also more because I'll be doing their newborn session when the little fellow makes his entrance into the world.

Yeah! A new mold-able, flexible, tiny (or not so tiny) newborn to take pictures of!

Stay tuned for that.

Now the apology...

Mrs. Mills (above) informed me during their session that she has the same camera as I do and that she's been told that she's in the wrong field...that she should be a photographer. At which point I went into a lengthy discussion of how I wish I had a better camera and the market is saturated with new photographers because of the digital age, and not everyone can be a photographer, blah, blah, blah. I think I came off sounding very protective of my business and a little egotistical.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I didn't want Mama-to-be Mills to think I was shooting her down...telling her that she can't be a photographer. That's not what I was saying at all. If you want to be a photographer, then do everything you can to be a photographer.

I get frustrated sometimes because people will tell me that my camera takes good pictures. When in actuality my "camera" is just that...a camera. It would be like telling Chopin that his piano makes pretty music or Van Gogh that his paintbrush creates a mean painting. Not that I'm comparing myself to a world class artist...you know what I mean. Right?

People sometimes get the idea that if they have a nice camera they can take nice pictures. And sometimes you can. That doesn't mean that you'll be consistent with it or that you can do it effectively as a means of living.

A fancy camera a photographer does not make.

I may be a slow learner, but it's taken me over 2 years to get where I'm at in my photography knowledge and I still have no idea what I'm really doing. Seriously. The technical aspect is not a walk in the park...particularly the lighting. I sometimes want to quit because of the challenges, but I can't because I love it. I keep shooting because I love it. I would have quit by now if it wasn't for that fact.

So, I apologize Mills family if I sounded haughty or protective of my art or even discouraging or negative. I did not intend to sound that way. If you have a love for photography and a desire to learn then you should give it a try.

I'm all about sharing my love of photography with other people. I know what I know today because other photographers shared their knowledge with me, and I'd love to watch someone else on their journey through the learning process and help if I can. Just don't think it's as easy as point and click because it is so not.

Stepping off of soap box...
B