A Little Shameless Self Promotion

I’ve been into cameras since I was a little girl. I received my first point-and-shoot camera as a Christmas gift when I was 10. All of my allowance money went into film and developing. Looking back at those early years, most of my photos were pretty crappy. But there were a lot of them. And I shot all sorts of odd things. My mother would say “now why would you want a picture of that?”

By the time I got into high school, everyone knew I was camera happy. Looking back through the photos from that time, I see a lot of eye rolling. And I remember hearing “If you take one more picture of me, so help me, I’m going to BREAK that camera!”(Jim Larrabee and Mark DeKalb – you immediately come to mind).  I was sneaky with my camera – I never asked people to pose in groups for photos. I was always looking for the “candid” shot.

By my senior year, I had graduated to a fully-manual 35 millimeter camera. My dad found it at a pawn shop for me. Not a Canon or a Nikon though, it was a soviet-made Xenit-E. I had no idea what I had in my hands, but I loved playing with the shutter settings and trying different shots. I still have a couple of early photos of my daughter that were taken with that camera.  My Xenit broke not long after my son was born though, and I was forced to use a cheap point-and-shoot again because my camera was irreparable and I didn’t have the money to buy another.

Times were a little tough. Many of the years that followed found me struggling to put food on the table, much less purchase camera equipment, or even pay for developing.  Parenting was my number one priority.  My kids grew up, and my lifestyle changed a bit. To make a long story short, I tried several digital point-and-shoots and still wasn’t happy. I had become interested in shooting band gigs, and those cameras all fell short. Stage lighting is a funny thing. And no self-respecting photographer would use a flash at a live music venue.

My financial situation improved some, and so did my cameras. I went straight for DSLR cameras – first a Sony A93, and finally, the Canon 60D I’m using today. I started out taking photos of my friends in 1^st Impression and began to branch out. This blog came about because I wanted to find a way to support and promote the live music scene. I wanted the general public to see what they were missing and maybe go check out a band or two. The photos added another dimension to it. I’ve given away a whole lot of photos to bands and venues. I’ve sold a few too. My collection of digital photos is pretty big. (Have you checked out my Flickr page lately?)

And then someone asked “Why don’t you do a show?”

Here’s the promotion part. Sorry it took so long to get here. On Saturday, September 14, my photos, along with those of my friend Alan Campbell (see his Flickr page here) will be on display at Creekside Vineyard in Coal Valley. This is part of the East/West River Fest, and there will be live music at the Vineyard as well.  I’ll have a few of my favorites – some matted, some framed – on display. Included are photos of some local bands, photos of bands that have visited local venues, and some other odds and ends (including venues like Codfish Hollow and yes, even the vineyard). So consider coming out to the vineyard next Saturday and joining us. It truly is a beautiful place, and I would love to share it with you all.