An Inspirational Journey into Photography
How I got started in photography
At the age of eight years old, my dad handed me the small brown camera and said, “Here you go. Now, it’s your job to photograph the family. you are the only one who seems interested.” and that’s how I became the family photographer. I started then and have been doing it ever since.
I took photos of everything, and eventually learned what I really enjoyed and what I really hated. I started out professionally photographing weddings with a friend that was also new to professional photography. We figured with both of us, surely we could photograph the wedding kiss and we did, but I hated photographing all of the family drama for the wedding portraits. She moved away after getting married and I started photographing birth which was my heart’s desire. That is a story for another time.
God created. He is the creator. Genesis 1:27 “so god created human beings in his own image. in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” God is in us and so it is only natural that we love to create too. My goal is to be a better photographer today than I was yesterday. My competition is myself and improving my photographic and artistic skills with the camera.
I am truly alive when the camera is in my hands. all my senses are heightened and I am almost certain a smile extends wide across my face. I am completely present in the current moment. I see, hear, smell, and touch everything. my eyes are looking at things close and far away. my sense of smell is enjoying all the scents of summertime. my hands are touching flower petals or tree bark, petting dogs and cats, and planting vegetables in the dirt.
Things I do to stay inspired creatively
My inspiration and ideas come from spending time with God and i have learned to cultivate the practice of listening for his voice. He can talk to me anytime but I almost always hear him or get great ideas when I am taking long walks in nature, when I am mowing the grass, and while taking long soaks in the bathtub. So I do these things often!
Art walks. Art inspires me, all kinds of art. I sketch, use oil pastels, chalk, charcoal, collage, and mixed media. My skill level is not important and I don't let that stop me. I take virtual tours of art galleries and visit museums. I pick a photographer or artist and study them and sometimes, I watch a documentary film on them. I want to try to recreate photographer Dorothea Lange's “migrant worker” photo with people I know. I love all sorts of magazines, books, movies, and videos.
Jukin’ - That's a drive with no destination in mind. I take a different way home. I visit local gardens, rivers, old country homes, farms, parks, farmer’s markets.
Artist date. I take an artist date each week to some place new to me. I look for street graffiti, new photo locations, puppies, fairs, festivals, and live music events. all of these inspire me to create.
Creative projects - I am making a family recipe book with stories and photos to give my new daughter in law. During COVID, I created a photo album of a river cruise trip with my husband’s family in December and gave one to each person that went. These projects feed my creative soul.
I am always searching for beauty. it could be a fawn, a huge stack of wood, rhododendron blooms, patio brickwork all cleaned up, cicadas. always looking.
Habits to boost creativity
Journaling - my daily scriptures or my thoughts and ideas dreams, ideas, psalms, recipes, my story, and life experiences. The process of writing and drawing and painting uses a different part of the brain and I want to keep my brain working great.
Daily practice with the camera - I pick up my camera almost daily. Sometimes I use one lens all week to help me get to know it better.
Daily dose of fun - I play often. I hung out with the dog trying to teach him something! I blow bubbles with a big wand. I play ping pong. creating delicious food in the kitchen is fun for me. photographing nature is something I am working on now.
Class or workshop - Each year I take a photography workshop or birth class to push myself to become better than I was yesterday.
Photo projects. I also do a yearly personal photo project that is just for me. When I moved to my current house, I photographed “pets and their people” to help me get to know my new neighbors. I put a business card in my closest neighbor’s mailbox and said I wanted to photograph her with her horse. We had a deep snow and she rode up my driveway on her horse, which is almost half a mile for our first meeting. It was memorable. I photographed a friend’s daughter’s senior portraits and she had a horrid pet snake. I am terrified of snakes. I wouldn’t get near her to take photos and I did not touch that snake! It was perfectly awful the whole time that snake was out of its cage!
Each of these things pushes me and my photography skills to become better than I was the day before. That is who I compete with. Myself. The more I know myself and my stories, the more I can see that come out in others through my photos. That's why I don't compete with other photographers. there will always be better photographers than me, but there is no one that takes photos like me with my point of view. so i choose to be me and compete with myself and it works great when i remember it!
Photo challenge!
I have a fun challenge for you: a photo scavenger hunt.
1- pets
2- family
3- your room
4- favorite things
5- play
6-your favorite spot
I practice these six things all the time. Actually, I take photos almost every day. During this pandemic, I joined a group, photographers during quarantine that had a focused theme for each week and we could not leave home and it had to be new work. It was fun, challenging, stretching and so good just for me. The teacher was an amazing artist and photographer and each week she critiqued our work. She always had suggestions on how to improve the image. It was frustrating and challenging and a safe place to learn and I loved it.
When you finish this list and you are pleased with each photo, come talk to me! I am hoping that trying these different styles of photography will help you find your own style.
~ Laura Swift
