Several weekends ago I attended a workshop by one of my favorite photographers, Shannon Sewell, whose style has always been an inspiration to me. The subjects we photograph and the way we photograph couldn’t be more different but I believe it’s important to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and try new things – I am constantly pushing myself to learn and grow as a photographer. Shannon photographs stylized and posed children, which is a 180 degree difference from candid pet photography, but I have loved her work for years and holy cow did I learn a lot from her.
I met lots of great local children’s photographers and the most amazing thing happened. While watching the other children photographers attending the workshop, I saw just how passionate they were about what they do. You see, I’ve always loved pets, I’ve always known I want to photograph pets and pets with their people. But this drove home for me that I really am doing what I love because watching the other photographer’s faces light up when they spoke about what they do – I know I feel the exact same way about what I photograph.
At the shoot I was taking photos and watching Shannon work with the models, but out of the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but see the cute doggies that kept walking by us on the trail. Then I saw a baby goose by the lake, so I decided to step away from the workshop for a few minutes to photograph the baby goose. And in that moment, I knew my heart is in the right place and that I am exactly where I need to be photography-wise, niche-wise and career-wise. This by far is not my best image of the day, but it sure is my favorite.
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