On Focus Photo Blog

I survived my first festival! I just want to thank everyone who made it out to say hello, and all of the people on whom I forced my business card. Husband Jeremy and I are exhausted, but it was a great experience with lots of positive feedback.

A frequent question I received today is: how long have you been a photographer? I hemmed and hawed and said, well, I attended photography school in 2002… but actually I’ve been taking pictures since I got my first camera in the first grade; it was blue and orange and took 110 film. I remember it came camping with me on a Girl Scout trip and I took photos of every single tree I saw. When my parents realized I’d “wasted” all my film on identical trees, they kindly suggested I start narrowing it down to the perfect tree — that one tree that represents all trees. Also, developing film is expensive, and uh, you don’t even like trees. I’m afraid I’m not making much sense, but basically I want to say that my parents taught me to look for a representative moment that conveys what I want to say. And most importantly, think about what you want to say before you end up with twelve accidental shots of your feet. My goal is for that thought and planning to come across in my pictures. So to obliterate this tangent and answer the previous question, I’ve been a photographer for 24 years.

As you’ve probably guessed, the above photo is my first official booth. We arranged it differently the second day, but used all the same materials. I apologize if I’ve been incoherent, I’m just so excited that something I worked so hard and so long for is finally happening. And also, it is time for bed. And a second also: it is a new experience to sell my own work. I learned a lot this weekend.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for looking. Just, thanks.