30 Days of Photos
My first real memory of photography goes back to my preteen years and the large, clunky digital Canon camera my family purchased in the lead up to a family trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. We passed the camera back and forth, capturing blurry photo of green hill after green hill. Today, my iPhone takes higher quality photos than that camera did, but at the time my brother and I were in awe. A couple years later we upgraded to a smaller, lighter Canon that my brother would take around with him backstage the summer we spent in a community theater production of Beauty and the Beast. As expected of the humor of a 12 year old boy, he became fascinated with taking close ups of fellow castmembers’ ears or eyes or nose. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, when I look back, it was the start of his unique eye and passion for photography. In the years since, he has become a truly adept photographer and videographer, having done engagement shoots and wedding shoots, delved into film photography and taught videography at a local university. And if you’re into folk music and folklore, you can check him out on TikTok (@thanpersand) where he’s gone low key viral! I’ve watched the hours he’s put into honing his craft, and every time he wanted to share that passion with me, I was too intimidated by the hours and years required to be any good, to even truly start. Then COVID hit and suddenly I found myself not caring how good I was; surrounded by uncertainty, I just wanted to create something beautiful.
It’s been more than a year since I picked up my camera and started playing around. While I’m still definitely in amateur territory, I’ve had a lot of fun and created some beautiful images. More importantly, its been a special bond to share with my brother during this strange time. That said, as I hit the one year mark since I jumped into photography, I started to feel frustrated. I felt like I’d hit a creative rut. Shouldering my limited skillset, I decided to face my fears, and challenge myself to take at least one photo a day for the entire month of April. In preparation of the project, I identified a few different skills and types of photography I wanted to try, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and hopefully gaining some new skills and inspiration on the way. From flat lays and food photography to styling and self portraiture, I found myself bursting with ideas. Ultimately, though, I just wanted to get a better grasp on the use of light in photography, and over the course of the month that one goal changed the very way I looked at the world.
Over 30 days later, I’m proud to say that I fully completed my challenge! Now that the challenge is over, I have become more comfortable with my camera, and with using natural and artificial light. I’ve created some incredible photos, and styled some lovely shoots. (You can see my favorites here!) At the same time, the challenge was harder than I had anticipated, in no small part because in the middle of the month I was juggling work deadlines and various health issues that, together, took much of my energy. There were some days that I just took pictures of my husband as he read in bed at the end of the day, because I didn’t have the energy to come up with a proper shoot. Other days, though, I was up before dawn, watching the sun rise across the river and capturing the play of light through the forest. The point was, simply, to shoot.
So what did I learn over this 30 day challenge? The most important lesson was to have a camera on me at all times. Many shoots require planning and forethought, but sometimes a beautiful photo comes from a moment of inspiration and perfect timing. One day we drove to my parents’ house in the evening and the warm light of the setting sun, a time called Golden Hour, outlined the hills and rolling farmland. As we crested a hill, the sky above us revealed a watercolor of pinks and blues against the trees, licked in golden light, creating a picture from another, simpler, more magical age. I kicked myself that I hadn’t brought my camera. This epiphany on photography, recognizing the inherent need for serendipity and awareness, has shifted the very way I look at the world since I began this challenge. I became increasingly aware of the light, of the way trees and houses, people and flowers, each catch the light in new and different ways. Photography became less about creating a photo, and more about preserving a moment in time, a memory, a feeling. It was a way to share a piece of my life and how I saw it, captured in light and shadow.
Saturday morning, as I cleaned my kitchen, I noticed the morning sunlight shining though the clear water in the spice jar in which I’d displayed a branch of blossoms. Transfixed by the shadow of the light shining through the water onto the table, I instantly reached for my camera. As I knelt on my kitchen floor, I reflected that a month ago, I wouldn’t have noticed the light dancing across the table in that way, not unless I’d thought to look for it. When I think back to the beginning of my challenge, this is the biggest difference. While there are pictures I have in my mind that I want to capture, a self portrait lying in the violets in my backyard, or one of the local trails outlined the wildflowers that are ready to bloom, I’ve accepted that a certain amount of photography is lifestyle. It’s a way of looking at the world, and capturing it forever. There’s so much left to learn, but I’ve realized that this isn’t a barrier: it’s an invitation. It’s a chance to grow and nurture the skills I’ve planted, as I look as the world with fresh eyes.
I’m still not sure that I would call myself a photographer, not yet anyway. But I haven’t ruled out that someday, I just might.
You can view my favorite shots in my gallery here.
