Pursuing Photography

For years I have loved taking pictures. It was world travel that first sparked my interest. While I traveled I wanted to capture as many moments as I could to look back on. I began scrap booking, making photo books, and gifting my favorite shots. Since 2005, that interest grown into an all-out love for photography. I finally decided that I wanted to pursue it on the side and help capture precious memories for others. And in December of last year my amazing boyfriend gave me a professional digital SLR camera (Nikon D60) as an early birthday gift. I was so overjoyed and the camera consumed ALL of my time for the next few months. I'm getting more comfortable with it everyday and love taking it just about anywhere.

Recently I was asked by a friend to take some headshots for him (he's an actor). I'd not done this before but knew I could. So we did a photo shoot in my house and the photos turned out great! There were actually several "money" shots and he was very happy.


This photo has not been retouched.

Since I'm a beginner, I'd like to start building a portfolio. I don't charge a dime but I want to take photos for family and friends and friends friends. If you or someone you know could benefit from some pro bono photography services, send them my way. I don't plan to start a large business of this, I'm simply looking to share something I love with others as a hobby. Let's see what happens. I'd like a variety of events to shoot. Examples are engagement photos, baby pics, headshots, homes for sale, animals, family photos, fashion portraits, etc.

I've also thought about doing something like a "photoshoot party" where a group of girls and/or guys get together and bring several favorite outfits, and we'll shoot with several backgrounds to create some very fun and cool professional photos for everyone to cherish. The target age group for this is probably teens to 20 somethings.

Let me know what you all think.

(Below is my favorite pic to date of my Java on our way to the dog park.)