Let me introduce....

This angel face here is my new niece! My little brother created this beauty of a thing and I think she is just the most precious creature to (one day) walk this earth! She was born on March 11th, two days after her due date. I was so lucky to get to be there for her birth! Getting to share such an exciting moment with a sibling...it's priceless. And, because I don't go anywhere exciting without my camera, I was able to capture some beautiful moments that otherwise might have been eventually lost in the blur of exciting events that day!

I also informed my brother that he had no choice-I was taking her newborn photos! I COULDN'T pass up an opportunity to practice my newborn shooting skills. The fact that she is blood to me gives me all privilages to dress her in ridiculously cute headbands and the most adorable angel wings, right?! I'm sure I'm biased for more than one reason but I am so happy with the pictures. It was so reassuring to have a vision and see it become real. It's also kind of fun to surprise yourself!

9 times out of 10, I am my own worst enemy. I critique every detail of my work and so easily become discouraged that "who am I" to be great at this? "Who am I" to know what the hell I'm doing, more than the next guy. I compare my pictures, my therapeutic moments at work, my wife skills, my dog's ability to 'come' compared to the next dog at the local dog park...and the list goes on. In a way, I'm glad that I am probably one of my hardest critics because it only pushes me to work harder, learn more, and most importantly-think outside of the box. I've always been a creative person. Art was my favorite subject growing up other than basketball. But creativity is something that can get very lost in comfort. Being too comfortable, too sure of yourself, too burnt out. I definitely haven't reached a point of being burnt out. And I'm definitely still learning so much that I am not completely comfortable shooting in any situation. I'm still working on the confidence that I will know exactly which setting to be at in order to get the picture that I desire, and not just luck into them. So, all in all, it's not the worst thing to be hard on myself. It keeps me on my toes.

Anyways, the photographer that I am interning under has encouraged me to journal my process of being a "starving photographer"! Haha! But, I hardly make the time to journal with pen and paper these days, and I have minimal drama to gab about on my blog so I will use my blog as my sounding board. Now if I can just write more than once a quarter! :)