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You are here: Family Magazine >
Parenting Tips > Looking
at Life thru a Lens
Looking at Life thru a Lens by Lizzy Grant
I can still vividly recall a time when terms such as "white balance
bracketing, isotopes, and histograms" swirled around in my head like a
late-spring snow flurry. With hands-on practice in the field, a myriad of online
tutorials & books, and hounding photographer friends with my questions, I
learned that photography is so much more than a camera and a lens. It’s what you
do with these tools in bringing images to life that really counts.
First, a bit of background knowledge about me. As a young teenager, I remember
scrimping and saving every spare penny by tutoring kids, scrubbing floors, and
arranging bouquets at a local florist shop in hopes of purchasing my first
'nice' camera. I eagerly awaited the day when my 35mm Minolta Maxim arrived in
the mail! Along with the camera, I invested in a special lens cleaning cloth, a
protective carrying case, and various kinds of film. I remember snapping,
developing, and proudly framing the most ordinary pictures as though they were
the greatest things in the world. I laugh writing this because they were
seriously not great, or even good. But that didn't matter, because I felt I had
captured a moment in time that would never be repeated...like the summer sunset
off North Carolina’s Outer Banks coast, the way the afternoon sun glinted off
the smooth Florida seashells primly lining my windowpane, the (rare!) Virginia
snow resting gently on tenuous tree limbs in the backyard, a moment of
contagious laughter between friends. The list goes on.
Over time, the trusty Minolta got increasingly left behind in my closet as my
attention turned to my (new at the time) Sony Cybershot digital point 'n' shoot.
It was light, versatile, tiny, and…digital. It was also quite cheaper, and,
hence, gave out on me after only three years of constant use! :) I proceeded to
be ‘camera-less’ for the next four months and truly felt like a part of me was
missing.
And then, it happened. I received my first professional-grade camera…along with
all of the warranty paperwork, how-to manuals, buttons and knobs, lenses, etc.
oh, it was all so delightfully overwhelming! Well, many moons (and photo
shoots!) later, I'm still enthralled!
In conclusion, I have learned that photography is indeed a skill, an art, even a
science; it is a challenging endeavor which requires time, study, and much
practice; it is a very rewarding profession. But more importantly, it’s about
capturing people’s moments and milestones that would perhaps otherwise be
forgotten. It’s about masterfully archiving the present to treasure in the
future...be it the delicate traces of a newborn’s foot, the winning smile of a
vivacious high school senior, or the joyful family running hand-in-hand on a
sun-gilded shoreline. Photography is about looking at life thru a lens and
bottling up all its beauty, joy, laughter, and love in a bunch of pixels (or
film!). And that is what ultimately fuels the enthusiasm & excitement for what I
do.
Lizzy Grant is a natural-light photographer who specializes in newborns, babies,
children, high school seniors, engagements, bridal, and family portraits. Visit
Lizzy Grant Photography for more information.
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