Let me first begin this post by saying that I do not consider myself a professional photographer at all! I have always had an interest in photography. I remember the first time I dabbled with it was in high school. I was the feature editor on the school newspaper staff and needed to take photos to go along with the stories I wrote. Of course we were using film back then, DSLR cameras were only a figment of our imaginations. I remember the anticipation of waiting for film to be developed, hoping I was able to use a few shots in the feature spread If there wasn't, that meant I had to come up with more words to fill the space and I didn't want to do that! Thank goodness for the instant gratification that cameras give us nowadays!
Being a graphic designer, digital artist and scrapbooker, my interest in photography has only grown stronger over the past few years. I've taken classes both in school and online and even interned with a photographer while in art school to help gain a better understanding of the craft and to help develop my skill. And developing that skill takes practice. So I jumped at the chance when my friend Bethany asked me to photograph her sweet daughter, Havana, at one of the local parks here in Riga.
Bethany mentioned she absolutely adores the above photo.
I snapped this picture of Havana as she was going down the slide at the park.
Havana & her Mommy.
The shoot was so much fun to do! I ended up taking over 500 pictures. Of course I deleted over half of them (I'm an amature remember), but I learned a lot in that 90 minute adventure in the park. When I downloaded and started the editing process, I was laughing the entire time. Little Havana has the most adorable expressions and personality. Her smile is contagious. You just can't help smile when you look at her pictures. Once I finished selecting and editing my favorite photos from the shoot, I posted them on Facebook and tagged Bethany in them. She saw them first thing Saturday morning and she was texting me, saying she had tears streaming down her face. She was so grateful for capturing the joy her little girl has in the photos. Her comments totally made my day. I was thrilled to be able to give something like that to a friend. It makes me want to do more and I can't wait for another shoot!
Thanks for reading!
