The Leap.

I made a decision over the last year to take photography more seriously and make the leap from hobby to business. Photography has always been a passion of mine. Since the days of my Vivitar 110 when I was a kid, I have always had a camera at my side. I love it. I see the world differently, more close up, with more interesting details, when my camera is with me. 

But taking the leap scares me. Now that I've said it (in cyberspace), I have to do it, right? What if I can't? What if I'm (gasp!) too old to start something new? What if someone pays me and all the photos come out blurry (a bad dream I had)? What if the business side is too complicated?

In three weeks I head off to Boulder, Colorado (yay!) for a photography workshop called "Substance", given by the amazing Jenna Walker of Jenna Walker Photography. When I told Jeff I needed to go all the way to Colorado for a photography workshop, I'm pretty sure he thought it was a boondoggle. (At least it's not ski season!) "Really?", he said. "There aren't ANY photography workshops in Boston?" 

Nope. Not like this one. I chose Substance because its goal is to help emerging photographers like me -- who may never have had a paying client, gain the skills and confidence they need to move forward. We'll do four photo shoots -- a wedding, an engagement, a family, and a baby to build our skills and portfolios. The workshop will also get into the all-important business side of photography -- contracts, insurance, and all that not-so-fun stuff that you still need to be legitimate. I also love that this workshop is only for women. Just ten of us. And there will wine. And time to talk about how scary it is to take that leap. All set at the foot of the Flatirons at Chatauqua Park in Boulder.

So, while I'm still taking this thing slowly so that I do it right, I think this workshop is going to be a great start. After that I'll continue to hone my technical skills through other workshops and build a business on a small scale. 

But I also need to build a portfolio, and over the next month I'll be looking for a few friends who want to volunteer their kiddos/family to help me do that. Local friends, let me know if you're interested (all the images will be yours to keep).

Stay tuned for my photographs from Boulder, but meanwhile, here are a few favorites of mine...