How Did You Get Here?

When people find out about my interest in photography, they have lots of questions about how I got started. So I figured this would be a good time to kick off the blog and tell a story, a true story.

Back in 1987 I had a beautiful blue eyed baby girl. She had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. I bet what I am about to say some other parents will relate to if this ever happened to them. I always wanted to take pictures of my little baby girl, but the sad part was the camera that I had at the time was not able to get in close and take pictures of her in focus. It was not able to do close-up pictures at all, so I missed so many valuable memories that I couldn't capture day to day. I got so mad over this that I made it my goal in life to remedy this situation as quickly as I could. She was born in February that year and by October 1987 I had gotten my very first 35mm SLR camera. This changed my life! So I may not have the newborn pictures, but from about the time I got this new camera till now I have pretty much documented her life in pictures.

Say "Hi!" to Christin. :)

So I took this new interest very seriously. I didn't just get the camera, I made it my "job" to study photography. I went to the library and took home as many photography books that they would let me check out at a time and I read them all. Then I would take them back and get more. At the time I was working from home babysitting for other parents. Then when I needed to go out and get another job, I got hired as a photographer by a national portrait company. I actually have worked for that same company (in a different division) again after I relocated. The experience I gained working for them allowed me to learn more about shooting portraits of babies, children, families and everything in between. I still did my creative photography every chance I got.

In the late 80's to early 90's I took a photography course that helped me to gain even further understanding and forced me to do assignments and of course get my work assessed and critiqued. During the early 90's I started learning and practicing hand-coloring of B&W images and doing retouching.

Over the years people have asked me why I wasn't doing photography as a business and the honest answer to that is that I knew I wanted to, but I just wasn't ready to pursue it. What changed? Well, about 6 years ago I met my husband. He happens to be a disc jockey and has been for over 30 years. About 3 years ago I also started doing weddings, events and parties, playing music and emceeing. I have gotten so comfortable with the timelines and details of weddings that I just knew it will be that much easier for me to transition into photographing them. I came to the realization that this could be the fruition of my life dream. More than anything I want to travel, see new places, experience new things and photograph it all. I have been heard saying my life dream is to "travel with my camera in my hand" many times over the years. As I have done more studying about doing wedding photography and I came to the topic of destination weddings....I got excited. I won't say that is where I intend to start, however, I know eventually that time will come and I will be more than ready for it. In the meantime, I am so much looking forward to providing wedding photography for the Atlanta, GA market.

Remember that cute baby up there?
This is one of my favorite images I have done of her.

Even though my website is not completed yet, no time like the present to get it out there on the web http://www.sherijohnsonphotography.com/