I Took the Plunge

Photography has always been a love of mine and within the past 10-15 years a passion.  I could honestly sit on the computer and look at photos all.day.long.  I also love taking photos.

I guess it started the day my parents brought home their first and only Canon film SLR camera when I was about 5 years old.  I think 1980ish is when they purchased it.  That thing has been around so long, I've lost track of just how old it is.  I was mesmerized from the get go.  I loved watching the lens be focused.  I loved hearing the click every time a photo was taken.  I can still remember when my parents used black and white film in it.  I don't remember how old I was when I was first allowed to pick it up and play with it.  But I do remember sliding the lens in and out of focus and clicking the shutter to take a photo.  I remember how exciting it felt.  Sure, I probably took my fair share of out of focus photos when I was allowed to touch it.  Heck, I still manage out of focus photos from time to time.  I remember the first camera I ever owned.  It was one that used 110 film and one of those long rectangular disposable flashes.  Of course I've come a long way since then, my equipment has gotten better and so has my photography.

Over the past few years the dream of doing photography on a professional level has been at the forefront of my brain.  What had been holding me back is my confidence.  After exchanging a few emails with some professional photographers in other states whose work I absolutely love, they have all pretty much said, "You just have to take the plunge and start.  You'll make mistakes and you'll learn from them."  That's pretty much what they all said but if you don't start somewhere, you'll never learn.

Rewind to May.  I attended two weddings two weekends in a row.  The first one I stayed out of the photographers way and took a bunch of photojournalistic photos.  I edited them and put them on Face.book.  A friend in a different state who also has a passion for photography and takes beautiful photos of her kids sent me a message asking, "Did you start your photography business?  I saw the wedding photos on FB."  I sheepishly had to respond, "No.  Those are just photos I took at my cousin's wedding."  Based on the photos she saw, she thought I was finally in the biz.  The following weekend, I attended another wedding for one of Lane's family members.  At that wedding, I found out that one of Lane's cousin's kids was getting married.  I asked who was doing the photography.  I was told they hadn't hired anyone yet.  That's when I took a big swallow of air and said, "I'd really love to photograph it."  What I'm being paid for it is not what my pricing will be when I launch a blog/website with my work and fees.  Mostly because this is family and I had to take the plunge somewhere.  I did show them my work and they liked it.  My main focus will be weddings but for now, I'm happy to get any work I can - babies, kids, families.

The name I decided on was Liene A. Photography.  My middle name starts with A and in discussing it with Lane, Liene T. Photography or using my entire last name just didn't have a nice ring to it.  So I let him have a say in it.  With that, I'll leave you with some of my favorite shots of the two weddings I went to in May.  Wish me luck this Saturday as I have my first gig as a photographer.