About
My first “serious” experience behind the lens was when I was earning a photography badge for girl scouts, many, many years ago. I was fortunate enough to have a generous leader (close friend and mentor to this day – who knows about tomorrow – just kidding — really Nancy, I am :0 ) who loaned me a professional level 35mm film camera. To this day I feel honored I was entrusted with this at such an early age. I remember spending hours focusing on the flowers in my grandmother’s garden And before too long I earned that badge and returned the camera.
About a year later, I took a black & white photography class as an art elective in what was then known as junior high school. This class also presented me with the opportunity to develop our own film. I loved the darkroom experience! Unfortunately, it was an expensive hobby back in those days as well and was something I couldn’t pursue. Add to that I was already committed to marching band, orchestra, softball, girl scouts and a few other things…ah the joys of youth!
Flash-foward some thirty years later and I’ve once again caught the photobug thanks in part to my own business needs. A few years back, I purchased my first digital camera (Canon PowerShot A70) to use mostly for my web development work. I played around with it by taking photos of my “kids”, some of which you’ll see posted here and found myself loving the lens all over again.
I was further drawn in when I realized one of my friends (Jo Ellis) was also ”into” photography. I expressed my interest to her as well, and she was and remains very encouraging in my photo journey. I look forward to spending more time with her and venturing further out of my shell. I suspect out of the house is the first step…stop laughing Jo…Ray…Tam…Dave…
You know when you are going the right direction when things just fall into place. I was being more active with my camera and then along comes Marti Jeffers. Marti and I worked for the same company for a number of years and I knew that when she left she was off on her own photography career. Not long thereafter she contacted me about hosting her website. From there, she introduced me to Craig Tanner and the rest is history of sorts in the making. I couldn’t be more proud to provide web hosting, development and maintenance services for The Mindful Eye, Craig Tanner & Marti Jeffers!
In June of 2009, I attended my first professional photography workshop (TMELive’s Atlanta Inspirational Weekend) and continue to shoot on a fairly regular basis. As for my “equipment” right now I’m using a point & shoot camera - Canon PowerShot A590IS – and hope to be able to move up to a big girl’s camera soon LOL. I purchased this about 6 months ago (a major upgrade from a Canon PowerShot A70) and it does offer quiet a few manual options that will allow me to recapture the basics and a bit more. I’m very pleased with it’s performance to date, but I hear the call of a DSLR in my future!
Goals and such…As much as I’d like to update this blog on a daily basis, I know it won’t happen so why even set that expectation for anyone, especially myself. Truth be told, it’s taken me almost two years to get to the point where I felt I could take the leap and go “live” with this blog. Sure, some of that was a direct result of fear, but it was also trying to fit posting into my schedule overall. As I grow through life, I’m learning how best to allieviate my own stress by not setting myself up for unrealistic expectations. Having said that, I will do my best to post here as often as possible and hope that you’ll stop by as time permits.
Thanks for visiting!
Kel
P.S. The photo at the top is a scan from a polaroid – it’s me with my Nana taken around 1966-67 and the only photo I will allow of me to be on the web. LOL
