The Very Beginning

All journeys, and in this case my photography journey,  come from somewhere, something, someone…

Mine started with this little girl:

The year was 2005 and I just gave birth to her.  She is my first born and the main reason why I left a promising job at the Philippine Senate. I wanted to take care of her personally. Like most first time mothers, I was overly protective and fussed over her more than necessary.  Six months after her birth, I started feeling the boredom of being a stay-at-home mom so I looked online for some prospects of a hobby. I found and re-kindled my love for scrapbooking, which at that time was also timely having given birth to my first child. I thought it was a perfect diversion from my motherly duties, as well as a meaningful way to spend my time. It was at that  point when we bought a digital camera, a Sony Powershot that lasted us more than five years! I wasn’t concerned much with the photo quality as Scrapbooking puts more emphasis on the memories and the stories behind the photos more than the quality. So my approach to photography, although I wasn’t really conscious of it then, it was documentary/photojournalistic more than aesthetics.

Fast forward to two years later, my second child, another daughter,  came along.  I was seriously into scrapbooking and have acquired a decent enough skill but I noticed something different for the first time.  The scrapbook pages featured in books and magazines looked way better and most times, a page would require minimal embellishment and yet it would still look amazing. My interest was piqued and I started looking more deeply  into photography itself.  My journey was relatively slow. I took my sweet time because I wasn’t really looking for an alternative career then. My hands were full with my daughters and I did not imagine having extra time to learn photography. But learn, I slowly did.

My husband gifted me a Nikon D80 in September 2007; I attended my basic photography workshop with Nathaniel Salang in June 2008; my Advanced Photography workshop with FPPF in May 2009; and two workshops with Manny Librodo in July and October 2009 (the latter was a Charity workshop for victims of Ondoy), respectively.  In between, I read books and magazines on the subject, got busy joining fora to educate myself and improve my skill level.  I may have learned the technical aspect from the classes and workshops I attended; the sourcing of a good light for a great photograph from the master portrait photographer Manny Librodo, but I believe a great deal of my skill are attributed to these two little people:

They taught me how fleeting life truly is. One moment I was pregnant with them, the next moment I find myself crying because I didn’t get a look back when I brought them to school on a first day. One moment I was shopping baby clothes for them, the next moment they were choosing their own wardrobe.  They showed me that to remember a moment means being in a moment. And being in a moment with a camera is a great way to capture and remember. Through all these times I was chasing them with a camera, or on days when I would sneak up on them while they are talking about topics they are both interested about, they taught me what are important, when to capture it, how to capture it.  You can say that my daughters trained me well. 🙂

So after a slow but deliberate (belatedly, anyway) journey, here I am trying to get a slice of what Jasmine Star refers to as the photography pie.  It’s the creative freedom to capture life’s little but meaningful moments that encourages me to be in this field of photography.  My fervent wish, with your help, is for it to be a rewarding one.

Advertisement