A while back I posted a blog on how I got started in photography.  The thing is, though, that I love photography even more today than I did when I started.  I love it every single time I pick the camera up and point it at someone. I love it when I download and edit the photos.  And I really, really love it when I show people their photos and I get to see them beam with happiness!

I had one such opportunity last night. Hope Lives! made a slideshow of the photos I shot at their fundraising Gala and Fashion Show for breast cancer (see photographs below).  The women who had participated in the show all got together for the first viewing of this slideshow; it was the first time they’d seen the photos of themselves from that night.  It warmed my heart to see these women beaming, some teary eyed, as they watched the show of photos and were flooded with emotions and memories from that wonderful evening.

This is why I love photography.  The power of a photo to take someone back to a particular moment constantly amazes and humbles me.  I get to take a moment and make it tangible.  A photograph brings with it the power to bring up emotions reminiscent of beautiful memories, and to witness that is reward in itself.  But not only that, for someone like me, who is fascinated by people, relationships and time, photography is like people-watching, but with permission!  Thanks to photography, people lead me into their lives for an hour, an afternoon, a day…I get to be part of the family, laugh with the children, talk with Grandma, play with the dog… I get paid to live from my heart…how could I not be in love with that?