Dear past me,
You took this photo on November 28, 2011. The day before, you got a fancy new Canon 60D and an 18-135mm lens. After unboxing, you stayed up for hours reading the manual trying to understand what all the crazy terminology, like exposure and aperture meant.
When you tried to put some of the stuff you learned into practice the next day – you took this photo and did a little happy dance when you looked at the LCD screen.
That moment really solidified my love of photography. Working full time, I experienced so much guilt about being away from my daughter. I felt like I was missing all the little moments of her life and had to find a way to document them before they past me by.
As I got more and more involved with photography, I saturated myself with amazing imagery from famous photographers. I got so critical of my own work that I stopped. I put the camera down and decided I would never be good enough.
Something happened though in January 2013. I got this crazy idea to start a 365 project just for myself. As I worked through my first year with all its trials and tribulations – I was finally able to look at my body of work as a whole and see tangible growth. That growth gave me the confidence to start posting my work to forums and Facebook for CC. I joined groups and found an amazing community of supportive photographers that welcomed me and really shaped me to be where I am today.
January 2016 marked year 3 of my 365 project. My library of images serves not only as a visual documentation of my everyday, but also as my journey from camera mom to artist. It’s a true labor of love in every sense.
I still have moments where I doubt myself. I have days where I can’t shoot my way out of a paper bag. The key for me though, is that tomorrow is another day. Yesterdays failure is going to be tomorrows success.
About the photographer:
Hi there! My name is Kristina of Hello Olivia Photography. I live on Long Island, NY with my husband and 4 year old daughter, Olivia. I’m an avid 365er, lover of lifestyle imagery and REALLY LONG portrait lenses. I hoard gear and secretly love night shooting and artificial lighting… but don’t tell anyone.
WEBSITE. FACEBOOK. FLICKR.