A Celebration of Photography

Back in the early 2000s, before I solidified my career path of writing and poetry, I was a photographer. I got it from my mom, who ALWAYS had a camera in her hands while I was growing up. She taught me the basics, and I eventually got my first camera when I was around 9 or 10.

When I first started college, my major was Visual Communications (which is a fancy way of saying photography), and I learned quite a bit before I had to drop out for personal reasons. When I returned to college for my Creative Writing degree years later, I still took some photography classes to keep up-to-date with the techniques.

In the years between college, I ran a photography business- Shadow Rose Photography- and I actually did really well with portraits and family sessions. Nature shots, however, was where my passion truly lay.

Even now, I like to take my trusty Nikon D90 camera with its 55-200mm lens and capture close-ups of the world around me. My daughter has also started taking pictures with her camera, and I’m excited to keep the tradition alive.

And, since June 29th is National Camera Day, I thought it’s be fun to share some of those images with you!

All of the following photos are original and NOT generated through AI. Watermarks are for my protection, but if you see one you like, let me know! I’m open to letting people use them.

These are just 10 of the HUNDREDS of photos I’ve taken, but I love how these turned out and feel like they show off my non-portrait skills.

And the fact that I can take photos whenever I want is a miracle in itself. The first cameras began as a box with a hole in one side, through which an image was projected on the other wall and could be traced. Called the “Camera Obscura,” it eventually replaced the hole with a lens, added chemicals and metals (thanks to experiments in Heliography by Nicéphore Niépce), and produced the first official photograph around 1826.

This early method required immense patience, the right combination of chemicals and metals to produce an image, and a steady surface so it wouldn’t blur. It was more science than art, but it also paved the way for all of the photography and film capabilities we have today.

Now, obviously this is a severely condensed version of photography’s vast history, and you can read more about it from the Encyclopedia Britannica, or from this great PBS article.

The point that I want to make is that photography is an incredible art form that’s now accessible to literally everyone on the planet. It’s a way to capture special moments in time, preserve nature, spread awareness about important topics, and express your creativity in a vibrant way.