photography

Photography is my passion. It's so therapeutic - taking photo after photo never fails to cheer me up. My hand was made to hold a camera.

I didn't really have an interest in photography until I was eleven. True, I had that Tweety Bird film camera when I was five and loved stealing my parent's camera to take random pictures, but it wasn't enamored by it by any means. It wasn't until I was at a family reunion in Germany when I was eleven and saw everyone taking pictures that I wanted to have my own camera. I finally bought a pink Casio point and shoot camera  three months later. 

That camera and I were inseparable. I loved the freedom I had in having my own camera. For the first few months, I just took pictures for the sake of taking pictures. I didn't really think about composition or angles. It wasn't until I starting blogging more, in September of 2009, that I wanted to add more of my photos to my posts. Before long, I started reading up on photography in order to better my photographs. Slowly but surely, I got to know my camera better and better and there was a improvement in my photos.

Finally, in May of 2010, I became tired of the limitations of my point and shoot. I wanted to explore my interest in photography even more. I longed to completely manually control how I shot my photos -- I dreamed about ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. (There. If you haven't noticed it before, there's proof that I'm a total geek.)

After much thought, I purchased my first SLR, a Nikon D3000 in June, about a month after I first starting looking for another camera. Following the screams of joy I emitted when it arrived, I ripped apart the packaging and fell in love at first sight. If I thought my point and shoot and I were inseparable, it was nothing compared to this. I took pictures of anything and everything, and, at the end of the day, lovingly placed it on my nightstand. When I bounded out of bed the following morning, it was always the first thing I reached for. 

My love hasn't lessened. On the contrary, I adore it more and more each day. I shoot exclusively in manual mode now and love the results. I've grown so much as a photographer in the past few months. It's my dream one day to be a professional specializing in food photography.

I also have an Etsy shop where you can purchase select photographs that I've taken.

I can't wait to see where this journey of photography takes me!

-carlotta