The "why" behind my business

As I sit here to write this blog, I am realizing for the first time that my why isn’t as simple as I thought. I have a deep passion for photography - yes. But it has also played an important role in shaping who I am today. Creating a much deeper meaning to my why. One that starts from when I was a child all the way to becoming a mother. Let me tell you a little more about it…

My own childhood memories…

Growing up, my parents were always trying to preserve memories. Whether it was with polaroids, disposable cameras, the first digital camera with floppy disks - yep that’s right or carrying around a video camera. Someone always had some sort of camera with them. As a result, my house had numerous pictures frames on the wall. Showing off our latest school photos, favourite childhood memories, weddings, first grandchildren - the list goes on and on. Not to mention the piles of photos albums we would sit down and flip through each year.

I can still remember the feeling of those albums, the plastic film you would peel up off the page and place the picture underneath. The pictures would go back as far as when my grandparents were children. Those were my favourite to look back on.

So it’s safe to say I learned at a very young age the importance of photographs and I believe my love for photography started there. My parents taught to appreciate capturing memories and the joy looking at them can bring. Even to this day, my parents have the walls of their home covered in frames and photos of family. I feel very honoured when I see a photograph I took up on their walls. So thank you Mom and Dad for kick starting my passion.

My deep rooted passion for photography.

As I grew up, I became to recognize my enjoyment around photographs. I used to make scrapbooks and slideshows of photos from the year to show off to family and friends. This sort of thing became apart of my love language. I loved creative ways to look back on memories and share that enjoyment with the people I love.

Then when I was sixteen I became an aunt. That same year, in my communications class I was tasked with a final project that involved creativity and using the various digital skills taught throughout the year. Naturally, I was obsessed with my baby nephew so I decided to use him as my subject. I would use a ‘fancy’ camera to take the photos, photoshop to edit them and create a digital scrapbook in slideshow form. I loved it. I couldn’t wait to get to class to work on it. I spent days at my sister’s posing and photographing my nephew. I was sad when it was over. Yet, I didn’t listen and follow this passion.

It wasn’t until university until I even opened photoshop again. I used to for school projects, creating logos and other design like elements for projects. Things I always volunteered to do because I loved it so much. And yet, I still couldn’t recognize the potential this passion of mine had. Not until I started a family of my own.

My own growing family.

As I reflect on the influence of my past I can’t help but acknowledge the role that the present plays in my journey. My children are the reason I bought a DSLR camera in the first place. That want to capture beautiful every day moments starting with them. I would see them playing in the grass, the sun setting behind them and think “wow this would be a beautiful photo”. So after many years of ignoring this passion, I couldn’t push it down any longer - I bought the camera so I could start capturing these beautiful moments.

But sometimes, I would wish that there was someone around to capture moments with me in them. The moments of us as a family play around on the couch or running at the park. Then it hit me - I can capture these moments for other people. I want to give them the gift of these memories to other families.

And that is why I started my lifestyle photography business. To capture memories and show families, there is beauty in the every day moments!