I remember the day I knew I had to get a “fancy” camera and capture my son’s milestones in images.  The price of a nice DSLR outweighed the cost of hiring a photographer every 3 months!  I have always loved everything about photography and I took a film photography class in college so I knew how to shoot in manual and I knew the basics of the exposure triangle.  I knew using a point and shoot to capture the most important time in my life just wasn’t going to cut it!

Months before my first son was born, I purchased an entry level Nikon and never looked back.  In this image, he is one… this was a few months before I took my first photography class.

If I were to write a letter to my past self I would say to keep working hard even though there are days you feel like you will ‘never’ get there.  Keep working hard even though your images are not what you desire them to be.  Keep working hard even though you have more missed shots than keepers.  Keep working hard even though at this point you have no idea how to even improve your images.  Keep working hard because eventually the hard work will get you there.  And always keep working hard because there is always room to improve and learn.

About the photographer:

Karen is a natural light lifestyle and environmental photographer residing in the Chicagoland area with college sweetheart husband and two little boys. Karen finds inspiration from real emotions and connections, dramatic and interesting light and capturing the little moments of childhood.

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