Capturing The Moment - Everyday Life Adventure Photography

Photography has been something of interest to me for a large portion of my life. Large enough, that I minored in photography in college in hopes that I would be able to combine it with my Archaeology major and keep that creative outlet alive and well in my professional and personal life. But somewhere along the way, I lost the spark and joy that taking photographs had provided me with for so long. And it wasn't just photography. I'd been an avid painter and creator of all kinds of art since I was a kid and was no longer making or creating anything. My camera gear sat covered in dust, neatly packed away in a closet and my collection of art supplies had turned yellow and faded, shoved into a box on a dark shelf. Because of this, there is a large portion of my 20's and 30's that feels forgotten, I don't know if forgotten is the right word, maybe hidden is better. There's just not much of a paper trail that shows where I was or what I was doing during that time.

Maybe it happens as you get older and time starts to move faster but as I reached my late 30's and entered into my 40's I began to realize that I wanted to be able to remember my life. I wanted to create tangible mementos, a trail of images and art of where I'd been and what I'd been doing and I wanted to, for the first time, really try and share them with other people. I am a Scorpio by nature, which means I am an intensely private person who enjoys their solitude and needs time alone, but also craves deep meaningful connection. It's that last part that's been the hardest for me. Letting the walls down low enough and long enough to make those connections.

As strange as it might sound, it's easier for me to share personal things with strangers on the internet than it is with people I know. Someone I've never met can read something very personal that I've written (this blog for instance) and I'm fine, but let someone I know read it and then comment on it and I want to crawl under a rock and hide. I feel too exposed! So maybe that's why I haven't told more than three people about it. I just wanted to give myself the opportunity to start. To start creating in a way that feels safe to me. I think that's why I also themed this entire blog around my love of the outdoors and all the ways it has helped me to grow and move and learn...and live. It's safe.

The day I pulled all of the camera equipment out of the dark closet was... intimidating. I had quite the collection of lenses and camera bodies, and a million chargers and cords that had no home. I sat on the floor in my room with all of the individual pieces spread around me and thought, "this is not how I want to do this." I had no desire to carry around five different lenses or cases of different camera bodies, so I decided to start fresh. I wanted to down size. I went to some local camera shops and was able to sell almost everything I had and put that money into a new camera.

I gave myself a challenge. I would spend that summer traveling and creating and documenting my everyday life adventures with just that one camera and lens. What a great idea that ended up being! It was small and compact but still high quality and that allowed me to take it anywhere, never feeling like I was lugging a huge piece of equipment around. It allowed me to focus on the reason I was doing this in the first place...capturing the moment I was in and sharing all the outdoor things I love. And then came this blog. A place for me to share all that I am creating and I am nervous as hell about it! But it's a new kind of nervous. A nervous that keeps pushing me forward and urging me to keep creating and documenting...and sharing.