110
there are many people that ask me, about how i got into wedding photography, and i think that my answer surprises them.
i wasn't born with a camera in my hand, i wasn't mentored and inspired by my grandfather (even though that would have been awesome), i wasn't a photographer for the school newspaper, and i didn't get my degree in photography from a wonderful college or fine arts program.
these would have all been exciting and wonderful ways to learn the craft, but my way was much different than anyone i know.
it was fish.
yep, fish.
as a scuba diver, i was sucked into the world of underwater photography a few years ago. darryl was the one who wanted to learn to take underwater photos, and i actually didn't want anything to do with it!
i took photos of my kids, but that was it. i didn't want to learn a complicated camera (yeah, and i thought my Olympus C5060 point and shoot was complicated), and i just wanted to scuba dive.
we found out pretty quickly that Darryl HATED taking underwater photos, but i became addicted to it.
trust me when i say that, if i was younger and didn't have kids, i would have probably pursued a career with National Geographic or some other publication, so that i could take underwater photos for a living.
fish and i just get along well i guess, and i have the patience of a saint!
i can out-wait any fish that comes my way, and i could just lay on the bottom of the ocean all day and wait for something cool to swim by.
unfortunately, Windsor doesn't have many fish.
funny story......
darryl and i dove in Lake Erie a few years ago, and the visibility was so bad, that i actually swam head first right into the wreck we were diving! HAHAHA!!!
i lost darryl in the murkiness, and bumped my head right into a piece of wood.
even if there were fish in the lake, i don't think i would have seen them at all, since i couldn't see 3 inches in front of me.
there are no fish in Windsor, but there are weddings!!
i grew to love photography like crazy, and weddings are my new fish.
i just can't wait to get to the next one and see what new thing i can photograph.
i guess fish are on my mind, because Darryl and i just booked a trip to Roatan Honduras in May, and that's where i can lay on the bottom of the warm ocean, and wait for something cool to swim by.
on our trip to Roatan this past Christmas, i spent a 1/2 an hour, waiting for the perfect time to photograph this awesome, banded jaw-fish and its mouthful of eggs.
i also found a nudibranch for the first time, and a really cool blennie (a pretty rare one) too!
i figured it was fitting to post a few underwater photos again, since it's been too long.
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106
i know, i know.....
i'm supposed to be posting a photo every day for a year, but i think it's going to be more like, a photo every 2 days! LOL!
sorry that i haven't been as diligent as i had hoped, but life gets in the way sometimes.
friday i had some personal time planned, in the form of a new haircut and colour. it has been months and months since i had a haircut, but it's because i was trying to decide what to do with it. i decided.
yesterday, i was blessed to be able to photograph a wedding in Windsor, with a friend.
i love being a wedding photographer!!!
anyways, here is my photo.
i wasn't sure what my theme was going to be for today, but when i got home from church, i quickly found my inspiration.
we are heading into fall, and everything around here is dying. my plants, my flowers, and the warm weather.
while i was walking from the van to my house, i noticed this little rose, sticking out among all the dying flowers.
this rosebush hasn't bloomed every much at all this year, actually, i can't even remember seeing a flower on it at all.
it's a miniature bush, given to me 7 years ago by my sister-in-law. i planted it, with the hopes that it would grow and prosper, but alas, it has stayed just as small as when i found it a special spot in my garden.
it is usually surrounded by daisies, hydrangea, and coneflowers, which overpower it and usually hide it from sight.
now that everything is dying off and getting ready for hibernation, i guess this little rosebush decided to finally bloom.
it could finally be noticed from among the crowd.
i doubt that i will see another bloom on this fragile bush, until next year, but that doesn't matter much to me. i am just thankful that this little rose decided to show itself today, when i would see it, surrounded by the ugliness of other dying plants.
it's funny, because sometimes i feel like this rosebush must feel (well, if it had feelings that is). i am a fairly new wedding photographer, in a city filled with pretty awesome wedding photographers. i wonder sometimes if i'm going to be noticed at all.
i am finding my voice as an artist, my style as a wedding photographer, and my little corner of the world.
i want to create beauty, stand out, and have the courage to break forth when everyone around me is bigger and more established. this little rose has reminded me that i am just as beautiful, and stand out just as much as it has.
that rose filled a space in my garden that wasn't filled with anything else, and it did it with confidence. it didn't try to be bigger, louder, or better than anyone else.
it is a rose, and doesn't need to be anything else.
i am me. i don't need to be anything but me.
as an artist or wedding photographer.
i will stand out because i am unique and have a style all my own.
some people might not like little pink roses, and some people might not like my style as a wedding photographer.
that's ok.
if people only liked little pink roses, and nothing else, then gardens wouldn't have variety and colour.
i think i like being the lonely pink rose in a garden full of other bright and colourful flowers.
it suits me just fine, and i will be appreciated by the people who are supposed to appreciate me.
those are the people who will find, that there's more to me than meets the eye.
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day 2- 365 challenge
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105
the other day, i had posted about a challenge that i wanted to participate in.
i got inspired by a blog i linked to one day, called Tasra365.com.
Tasra Dawson had begun a challenge to improve her photography by 300% in a year, and it sounded like a good idea to me.
I am usually up for a challenge , like when i trained for and ran (in 2:15) a half-marathon, about 3 years ago. i went from not running at all, to running the Detroit Half-Marathon (with no walking) in about 6 months of training. i am very proud of that accomplishment.
I have other things in my life right now, that seriously need improving on, but my photography is something i'm very passionate about. i look online, see great artists like Jerry Ghionis and Cliff Mautner, and i feel inadequate as a photographer. it's not that i believe that i can't be great, but i know that i have a few hills to climb to get to where i want to be as an artist. Darryl thinks that even when i am awesome, that i won't ever think that i am, because i am always striving for more. i guess, like many artists, i'm super hard on myself and i always know that there is never a point when you 'arrive' , but that it's a journey that never actually ends.
i have an addiction to learning, to growing, and to trying new things.
maybe when i get to heaven i will no longer have the urge to constantly improve and achieve. i want to believe that once i get there , that i will be satisfied.
the photo i took today, pretty much sums up what's going on in my heart right now.
i am a mom, i love being a mom, and i miss my son.
it's too quiet around here these days, and i miss the laughter and the music that Josh brought to this house.
for the last few years, Josh has been teaching himself how to play the piano, so that he would be ready for the piano courses at university. his piano playing used to be painful to listen to, but it progressed to beauty and music.
the piano now sits silent.
the white piano keys have chips in them, which Josh made himself, when he was just a baby. we used to let him bang on tupperware with a wooden spoon, he was about a year old. he soon learnt that if he banged on the piano with the spoon, that the piano made noise too!
we quickly had to take the spoon away, because he was actually chipping the keys!!
that didn't make him happy.
so, my piano sits silent, waiting for someone to come along and make music again.
i miss the music.
Jessica Monnich:
Oh my gosh This makes my heart so sad that one day my little girl will be all grown up and not sing silly songs any more :(
(09.28.09)
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day 1 ~ 365 challenge
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103
a few weeks ago, i fell upon a website that challenged photographers to improve their skills by 300% in one year.
yeah, it sounded a little weird to me too.
i read a bit further, and discovered that it was a challenge that i felt that i needed. hey, who couldn't use to improve themselves by 300% in a year?
geeeesh!
so here are the rules....
i have to take one photo a day, and i have to read one page in my camera manual a day, every day, for one year.
do i shy away from a challenge?
no siree bob.
tomorrow will be the first of many days of daily photos. please forgive me if i miss a day, sometimes life happens.
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so, what's with this 365 day thing?
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68
i am getting excited!!!
michele bowman photography is changing it's look and it's name, and this week i'm going to be diligently working on my new website and NEW blog!!
i purchased some new templates from Into the Darkroom, and they just need some lovin' from me before i can get them live. i am currently buried under mounds of photos to sort through. i need to make sure that everything that makes my new website galleries, is up to my strict standards ! LOL!
with all these changes, comes a change in name and focus.
as i've written before, i am currently in LOVE with photographing weddings. my career didn't begin that way, but weddings have worked there way into my heart, and it was love at first shoot.
i originally wanted to focus on family and kids, since there is nothing as fun as chasing a kid around a park for a photo! really.
for some reason, God brought wedding photography into my life, and while i am still young enough to endure the crazy physical demands of wedding photography, i will give it my energy and my all.
i didn't realize how many wedding photographers ACTUALLY lived and worked in Windsor Ontario & surrounding areas, but instead of discouraging me, the numbers have actually made me want to work even harder to stand out in a crowd.
i am finding my OWN HILL (as Kevin Swan puts it) and making it my goal to bring another aspect of wedding photography to the Windsor market.
i have always loved being an individual, and my wedding photography will be no different.
i do have to say that i was super excited the other day after talking to a potential client. she actually 'GOT' me and what i want to show the world through my wedding photography! you can't even imagine how wonderful it felt to be understood, and have a client WANT to hire you because i am just what they are looking for.
trust me when i say that i have always known what style of photography i wanted to bring to the market, but it's been a journey getting there. i don't feel that i have arrived, but at least i know i'm on the right track.
i look forward (more than you can imagine) to working with client's who's vision for their wedding photography matches my vision for photography and telling their story. i don't want to be the photographer for everyone, but i want to be the photographer to people with the same artistic vision as myself.
they are bound to be matches made in heaven.
this journey into the fantastical (yep, my new word) world of wedding photography has been exciting so far, and with my new branding work and new marketing materials, i will be starting on a new path with an even more focused vision!
i am so very thankful for all the love and support i have been getting from my family, friends and other photographers. your comments on my blog and support on facebook, have meant more to me than you can imagine.
so, i'm just letting you know that changes are on the horizon, and hopefully i will be able to get my new blog up and running by the end of this week or so. i will have a new domain name , but i'll make sure to keep you all posted on any changes.
now, to post a photograph that has NOTHING to do with wedding photography, but has everything to do with my love and passion.
underwater photography gave me my start into the world of cameras!
the ocean is truly my love.
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a windsor wedding photographer story ~
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Ah, there's that fish with the mouthful of eggs! That's wild.
(10.08.09)Michelle, these are great photographs! Yes, it is a bummer to live in cold places like we do (St. Louis for me). Thankfully we can travel to warmer climes : ) We will have to get together for some diving someday, I am always on the lookout for new dive Buddies! Are you going to be at the DWF convention this year? I'll be there, would be cool to meet you!
(11.03.09)Seriously, those eel wormy things gave me shivers down my spine looking at the picture... how in the world did you swim in water with them, Hope it was good zooming on your camera's part... very cool pics though!
(11.12.09)I have been to Roatan and Utila several times. Where did you stay in Roatan?
(01.16.10)