So, how do you know what you're doing?

The short answer to that is that I don't always know what I'm doing and I really have a whole lot more to learn; however, as a teacher, I know that learning is a journey and we never really "arrive." The trick is to keep going, keep learning, be humble and most especially, be teachable.

The long answer is that I took a photography class in college, which I just loved. Back then, we used film. The funny thing, however, is that I never remember learning how to develop a photo in a dark room like most photography people will recall. I hear them say, "Oh, back then in the dark room, yada, yada, yada" and I desperately search my memory bank for even one moment in a dark room, but to no avail. So, either my teacher was completely inept, flaky, or I was just absent that day. I'm not sure which is the case. I'm just especially happy that we've gone digitial.

I recently took a six-week class and was grateful to have had an excellent teacher, Larry Miller (in Boca Raton), an expert photographer of 30+ years, who taught me far more than I expected to learn. It whet my appetite for more and got me clicking away at any old, random thing with my shiny new Nikon.

I also believe that my life experiences and travels have been a superb teacher. When you're walking through the windy, winding streets of St. Tropez or overlooking the emerald, glassy sea at the Cliffs of Moher, there's a wonderful bit of pressure felt as you consider that you may never pass this way again, so you'd better make absolutely sure that the picture is well composed and could be one that you'd frame. These moments surely stretched and shaped my skills.

It's only been in the last few months that I started thinking more seriously about photography and toying with the idea of making it an avocation. In all honesty though, dark thoughts plagued me, "Everybody is becoming a photographer now...Why would people choose me? Will they take me seriously? Do I have what it takes? What if I fail? What if they laugh at my work?" In the end, though, I was encouraged by several people, including my precious family, who believed in me enough to actually "invest" in my future business by contributing money for a decent camera. I'm thankful for those friends (you know who you are) who kept gently pushing me in this direction, despite my insecurities about actually trying to become a "real" photograher, not that I would even consider myself one yet.

I'm so thankful for their sweet urgings and boosts of confidence when I was lacking. So now, I'm taking baby steps in that direction and remind myself that it doesn't have to be perfect...just my absolute personal best. I may not always get the shot "just right," but with plenty of practice, in time, I will.