One click changed it all

Blogtember Day 6. Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn. I'm not really going with the obvious answer for this one. I could say something like "the day I met my husband," and that would most certainly be a time my life took a complete 180 degree turn, but I've already told that story. You can read it here, if you fancy.

No, the defining moment I wanted to write about today was so much more subtle. I didn't fully understand it at the time, but now I see that moment as the beginning of something really important in my life. It was in late October of 2010, and I attended a family Halloween party. I was snapping photos with my little point-and-shoot digital camera, but then my mother-in-law asked me to take a few of her and her mom, since they both had cute costumes on. She handed me her DSLR camera, and I started snapping.

photo cred: Smitten Imagery

It's not very often that you remember the way you actually felt in a particular moment years in the past, or remember the actual thoughts that went through your mind. It must be an exceptional feeling or thought, whether positive or negative, to cause it to stand out among a million other memories. But that's how I remember that moment. As something very quietly exceptional. I fell in love with the way that camera felt in my hands. I fell in love with the sound of the shutter clicking as I snapped. It felt as though some tiny little light snapped on, like something woke up inside me that I hadn't previously known existed.

And then I proceeded to badger my husband for the entire month of November, until he purchased me a DSLR for my birthday. ;)

Since then I've taken plenty of bad pictures, tried to sell some of those bad pictures on Etsy (hahahahah), experimented with editing styles that make me cringe to look back on, started a business, done things wrong, done things right, made great friends in my clients, and continue to learn and grow along the way. I've realized that you don't just go from zero to incredibly amazing as a photographer (or anything, for that matter) overnight. It takes lots and lots of time and practice and hard work and honing that only comes from time and practice and hard work. I am nowhere near where I'd like to be as a photographer. But do I feel completely in my element? YES! And I can trace it all back to that one little moment back in October of 2010, when my life took a turn. Funny how that works sometimes... ;) Tell us about your turning points in the link up below. Happy Tuesday!