I found my love for photography after taking really nice pictures of a lake with the use of a family camera. This camera was a digital little thing. However, while getting out of the water, I dropped the camera in and destroyed it; I did save the chip though. Mom and Dad got a new camera, the same kind, and I was very excited to start taking more pictures. My main focus when I would take pictures was photography. I would walk around the block taking pictures of trees or I would go to the park and get some nice shots of flowers and bushes. Sometimes I could find everything I needed just outside my backdoor. The great thing about nature is that it is always changing: whether the wind blows leaves around, plants blossom, or you find an animal grazing somewhere. Nature will never leave you with a dull moment; something is always happening.
In 2011, I created a website called samanthasart.webs.com. I would post pictures from my iPod, iPhone 3, and iPhone 4. Although the quality of these devices was not very good, I was still able to capture some pretty amazing stuff. I utilized the glare I would get from the sun. Just because the camera you are using is low quality doesn't mean that you can't take pictures. All that is needed is some creativity. Play with angles or light. In the picture below, I used an odd angle to get the picture I wanted, the quality doesn't really matter. Just simply being able to take pictures made me happy. The image below was taken with my iPhone 4.
As you can probably imagine, I was super excited when I found out about Instagram. My first post was March 1st, 2012. Since then I have posted 1,719 times. Instagram is my favorite app because I can share my photos for everyone to see. I would take pictures of everything: clothes, food, people, buildings, nature, even the water in a cup when I was playing with ink. Photography is an art. Painting is an art. Food is an art. I also have a love for cooking so put the two together and BAM you have a great picture.
Now that you know some of my story, here is why I truly love photography.
One, I believe it connects you with nature. When I decide I'm going to take some pictures, I just go outside and look at everything. Sometimes a simple branch will stick out, or a flower among many. Every now and then, a creature will stumble in front of my lens and I can get a beautiful picture of a deer grazing. With nature, the possibilities are endless and unpredictable.
Second, I have the ability to catch a wonderful moment for others and then share it with them. Just the other day, I had my tripod all set up waiting for the sun to set over the bay. While I was waiting, I saw an expecting woman, her husband, and their daughter about to walk in front of my camera. I took this opportunity and captured their picture; it was amazing. I then found the couple after the sun had set and asked if I could have their email to send them some nice pictures I captured. They were so happy. I captured a memory for them and they had no idea. I got the pleasure to make a family happy.
I now have a new website called https://shuyler.wixsite.com/mysite where I post my pictures from my Canon and iPhone 6s. Sometimes you can't even tell the difference.