Look Up!


2018.10.09 - Architecture - Look Up.jpg




What's Your Drive?

Are you utilizing your skills for your own benefit? Are you in your field for your gain? Are you sharing your story or focusing on others? 

These are some questions I've been pondering over the last couple of days due to a podcast I recently listened to. The podcast is called "Depth of Field" and is hosted by Matt Brandon, a travel and documentary photographer. The goal of the podcast is to interview other photographers for the benefit of other working photographers (or those who aspire to be a working photographer). The person being interviewed was Esther Havens, a humanitarian photographer, who has traveled the world working for NGOs, non-profits, and other organizations, to share their stories and the impact they're having on the world. She's a passionate person, who does amazing photographic work and someone who genuinely cares about the organizations she works for.

It was a challenging podcast, as it made me truly evaluate what I am doing as a photographer. Am I in this for myself? For my gain? Or am I trying to lift others up and share their stories? 

I don't know if I have a complete answer for myself--but I do know that there have been moments when I shot a picture and thought, "Oh! What a great shot to put in my portfolio!" This goes for taking pictures of people and even inanimate objects or scenery.

Canon 5D Mark II; 50mm f/1.4 &nbsp;| &nbsp;f/2.8, 1/800 sec, ISO-400

Canon 5D Mark II; 50mm f/1.4  |  f/2.8, 1/800 sec, ISO-400

Like this picture of the splash of ocean water--if I thought immediately how great it would be to post this on my website, I'm not praising God for His creation, but thinking about myself. How short-sighted this is!

I feel slightly ashamed realizing that (and admitting it to you!), but in the creative field, it's a hard reality to fight against. The reality that everyone is trying to be better than others in their field and will do crazy things to stand out and receive a following. I don't think I've done anything crazy, but my heart and mind have sometimes wandered to myself rather than the person I was photographing. This is something I truly want to change in myself and my work.

I think that whatever field you're in, these are good questions to ask. It's good to have a "heart check" and ask yourself if you're trying to gain praise or if you're actually making a difference in the lives you're working with. I want the latter. I want to make a difference in the people I'm photographing and the stories I'm sharing.

So, what's you're drive? What's compelling you to do what you're doing? Is it for yourself or for others? Go think about it and let me know your thoughts!

If you want to listen to the interview, click here.


Looking Inside

When we were in Thailand once, this man (pictured below) for some reason began to laugh while he scooped up our creamy coconut ice cream, with jellies and vermicelli noodles. As I watched him, I secretly snagged a couple of photos of him in that moment of joy. These moments, I just love!

I love these moments because I can clearly see how we are all alike. God gave us all smiles, laughs and senses of humor. This man may look different than you or I (or maybe you look just like him!), but inside, he is the same as you and me. 

Once I was really afraid to interact with those different than me, but now I see the beauty in the differences and couldn't imagine my life any different. If you have a fear of people different than you, reach out. Just say hi and ask how their day is. You'll quickly see that they are just another human on this earth, seeking to do something with their life. It's that simple!


Eager for Change


I have no idea what that's like!! ;)







I want to learn and grow.

I want to share the world that I see with you.




More on this later. 


What's your vision?

One of the photographers I follow, David duChemin (a world and humanitarian photographer), always talks about how vision is much more important than just taking photos. This challenges me and I agree with him wholeheartedly! Vision should always drive the train in everything we do. 

So what's my vision, you might be thinking? Good question...I'm still trying to figure that out. I was telling Joshua (my husband) the other day that when I take photos, I feel like I glorify God. It reminds me of the quote from the movie Chariots of Fire.


I feel like when I take photographs, I feel His pleasure. That might be extreme for some of you, but there are only a few things that I do that is accompanied by God's pleasure and photography is one of them. So, saying all of that, I believe that God has a purpose for photography in my life and I want to figure that out so I can do it and do it well.  

In 2016, I hope that I can uncover this. This is one reason why I am doing weekly photo portraits. I love taking pictures of people and I love showing our shared humanity. I feel like (and maybe I'm wrong) I do a good job at it, too. I also love showing the beauty of creation, hence all the pictures of the ocean, flowers and sunsets. Urban settings are fun to shoot, too! I have many things I love to capture, but hopefully as I gain a vision for my photography, you will see that reflected in my work. 

So friend, let me flip the question back to you: What's your vision? What drives what you do? I hope that you can answer this question and be excited about whatever it is you're doing with your life!


See, Compose & Shoot

One day earlier this year, I did a photo walk around the campus I work at (I teach English here) and I came across a plant that was really beautiful. I hadn't gotten my camera out in a while (when you're's all you do!) and I wanted to do something creative--get my mind off work.

When I am out taking photos, I don't just snap everything I see. Normally, things catch my eyes and I inspect it, looking at how I can compose the photo. I move around to get different perspectives. I think about how the light is hitting the subject and how I can share the beauty of what I see. I then bring the camera to my eyes, look through the frame and try to take different pictures from different angles. I try different depths of field, different shutter speeds, etc. etc. etc. This is what came from it:

When I first started with photography, I thought I could just get lucky when I would take photos. I would see things, of course, but I wouldn't think about my camera settings (in fact, my camera would just stay at a wide aperture), I wouldn't think to move around a bit to change my perspective, I wouldn't think about what my focus was, and on. Perhaps I was a little lucky in the beginning, as I still got clients and had a small business going. However, as I wanted to grow, I switched to RAW format, changed my settings to manual (so I was forced to figure things out), started studying and observing other's work, and I practiced a lot. I'm not where I want to be still, but I hope I'm still growing and changing in how I see things. 

David deChemin, World and Humanitarian Photographer, talks a lot about vision and letting that be your guide. I am struck by his posts, as I want to be driven by the vision that God gives me. I'm still trying to figure that out, but I hope that as I do my photography and other art forms shape with it. I want to be driven by something, not just "shooting in the dark" per say.  (pun intended :-) )

I hope you have enjoyed my photo of the day project--I honestly was only planning on doing it for a month or so. However, I have really enjoyed sharing photos with all of you and I'm going to try to keep it up for some time. Once I resume teaching soon that will tell if I can keep it going! Thanks for stopping by.