DO WHAT YOU LOVE

I bought an Olympus OM1-N in December, 1982 when I was 18! An all-manual camera. I knew NOTHING about photography, but bought it for my husband for Christmas. Thinking ahead, I figured I better learn how to use it before he opened it on Christmas eve so we could take some pictures with it right away. So, the week before Christmas 1982, I did my personal crash course in how to use a manual camera. From that day on, it became my love….although I did have to share the camera with him! A week later, I took a job at a local one-hour lab, Foto Quick, on Jan 1, 1983. I got free film processing for a year as an employee and learned a TON from all the film I processed and images I saw, good and bad. A few weeks later, I signed up for a photography and darkroom class at the local community college, and was bit by the Photo Bug in a big way. Addicted. Obsessed. It has been my true love language for the rest of my life since then! I have always said it is my passion and that “I will do photography until the day I die”. All true. 🙂 [hmmm…telling you that story just makes me happy! #dowhatyoulove]

It’s not surprising that 32 years later I’m still doing photography and teaching it and passionately pursuing it. And fortunately I’m not afraid of technology, because wow, it is so different now! [but I still love the smell of fixer…. ] Now I love Photoshop as my digital darkroom and I’ve turned to moving pictures– videos that tell better stories with more passion and engagement. It’s an ongoing love affair with life, capturing its beauty and precious moments. I love interacting with my world through they eyes of my lens more than any other way. And I love remembering and creating and reliving the best parts of life through my prints.

SuzetteSays: #dowhatyoulove #saywhatyousee #ownit #beyourself #tellyourstory #inyourownwords #rosetintedglasses #inbeautifullight