My Hobby

In 2009 I started to get an itch.  I'd always been intrigued by photography, and ALWAYS had a camera with me.  I can remember the moment from my childhood when the seed for photog was planted: I was 9 and we were on family vacay touring the main attractions of Arizona.  On the hike back from the ruins at Tonto, I took a minute to take a quick picture of the ancient buildings.  I stopped under a mesquite tree and thought the blossoms would look pretty in the picture too, so I made sure to include it when I framed the image in my view finder.  I snapped the picture and went on my way, excited for the next stop on our journey.  Little did I know that my journey to capture my life in pictures had just begun.  When we got our pics back from the local drug store, my dad quickly thumbed through the ones I had taken {most of them were pretty silly} and suddenly paused.  Now let me interject here that my dad was a great photographer.  He had an old Pentax that took beautiful pictures, and I would BEG him to let me use it.  So when he showed me the picture I took of Tonto and told me that it was good enough to be a postcard, my jaw hit the floor!  He raved about it and showed everyone the picture his "little photographer" had taken.  I soaked it up... and was hooked.  From that moment on, I've looked at life imagining how I would like to capture it with a camera.



Fast forward to the summer of 2009.  Photography was fast becoming the new "thing" with young, stay-at-home moms and amateur photographers were popping up left and right.  My dream had always been to open my own in-home studio, but I had imagined waiting until all my kids were in school.  After hearing about so-and-so starting her own business here and there, I figured that it was a pretty good time to do likewise.  I mean, if I was terrible then I would be no different than most of the other "photogs" out there and so at least it would give me an excuse to buy a nice camera right?  LOL  And if I turned out to be any good, then I would be starting in a no-pressure environment where I could gain experience with a support group full of peers going through the same thing I was.

I somehow worked a bit of magic and talked my darling husband into letting me buy a used Canon 40D and a new 50mm f1.8 lens off ebay.  I've had fun learning and growing as a "Picture-Taker-Person" and know that while I still have a long way to go, it's worth the effort to push myself.  It's been 3 1/2 years since I started {wow!} and my goal is still to keep it simple, make it enjoyable and have fun.



I love photography.  I love taking a picture that takes my breath away.  And I love developing my hobby while I earn a few pennies so I can stay home with my kiddos.  Take a gander at my website, simplyphotog.com and keep me in mind when you need a "Picture-Taker-Person".  :O)