I am a photographer. I haven't formally studied photography, but I have had the great privilege of having some fantastic mentors in my life who taught me a lot, and who encouraged me on my journey, and critiqued my work. About 5 years ago I decided to launch my own photography business, as a side job. The intent was always to make a little extra money doing something I love, but not committing to it full-time. Photography is a creative outlet for me, and if I'm relying on it solely for my income then it becomes more of a job, and I don't love it as much. I didn't want to force myself to fall out-of-love with my passion, so I've never pursued it full time. Even since I've been laid off I have amped up my efforts, but am still seeking full time employment that isn't photography.
Jim was one of my photo-mentors. I met Jim by accident, because he happened to have arrived early at a worship service, and I was standing at the podium with my father, hyperventilating and sobbing my heart out. I had agreed to say a prayer at the opening service of our church's world conference, and was the opening prayer before our President-Prophet preached. There were about 5000 people in attendance, plus it was being broadcasted on many of the local tv networks, and world wide on a live streaming webcast. The reality of what I had agreed to do had just sunk in, and my poor dad was trying to get me as settled as he could before the service began. I was freaking out. Jim witnessed all of this (unbeknownst to me). When the service began and I settled in my seat (alone on the rostrum with the top 3 leaders of our church at the time... no added pressure!) - I discovered that when they tell you the lights will be so bright you won't hardly see anyone, they're lying. I felt my heart catch in my throat again, and tried to look down without looking as though I was looking down. That's when I saw Jim. He gave me the biggest smile and just nodded at me. The rest of the service, I just focused on him, and his smile never broke. He got me through the entire thing and I had never even met him before.
That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and once he discovered that I had a budding interest in photography, he jumped on it and offered to critique some of my work. From then on, he would take me around church events as his assistant, until he eventually promoted me to staff photographer (a very exciting day!). He would invite me to come stay with him and his wife for a weekend to tour me around and take photos. He taught me how to use photoshop, and how to better frame a shot, and gave me tips on shooting portraits. He introduced me to his brother-in-law, another excellent photographer who also took me under his wing.
Whenever I hear from Jim I am always anxious to see what he has to say about my latest work, and eager to hear how life is treating him. He recently contacted me and asked if I would be willing to share a testimonial that he could put on his website, so I decided to send it to him long hand along with a letter.
I may not see Jim as much as I like, and I may not keep in touch as much as I used to, but he's with me every single time I pick up my camera, and I am forever grateful for that smile!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Letter #91 - Amie
Everything in life is cyclical. We're born, we live, we die, and the circle continues. I have seen so many cycles in my life, not just the human life, but experiences, friendships, all kinds of cycles. Last fall, one cycle closed for my husband, but it opened a whole new series of cycles for both of us. He lost a friend of his to cancer, which was devastating to him, however as a result we were introduced to his friend's family and circle of friends, who folded us in with their love and support instantly. The result has been a whole new batch of friendships for both of us to foster and grow, and I have been so incredibly thankful for that legacy that Andy has left us.
Letter #91 is going in tomorrow's mail to Andy's daughter Amie. The first time I met Amie I saw exactly how I have always pictured myself when I will ultimately lose my dad. She was a mess. Still smiling and trying so hard to be strong and to pay tribute to his life, his wishes and all of the beautiful and wonderful things he stood for, but she was in so much pain that I just wanted to fold her into my arms and cry with her... and we had never met before. As time has passed I have seen her several other times, and while she has gotten stronger it is clear that the loss of her father has completely rocked her to her very core. Even the thought of losing my own dad puts me in touch with those emotions, and I can empathise very deeply. At the same time, she pushes to move on, to be a strong and wonderful wife and mother, and to be a friend to those who choose to be in her life... including me. While we don't spend a whole lot of time together one-on-one, I have felt a strong connection to her, and I very much hope that our friendship will continue to grow.
I decided to write Amie to send her some love and support, and to remind her that I was grateful she has entered my life, even if we aren't the closest of closest friends. She and I have tried a few times to get together and it's never quite worked out due to schedules, etc, so I reminded her of my desire to get that together sometime and for us to spend some time hanging out and just relaxing.
Letter #91 is going in tomorrow's mail to Andy's daughter Amie. The first time I met Amie I saw exactly how I have always pictured myself when I will ultimately lose my dad. She was a mess. Still smiling and trying so hard to be strong and to pay tribute to his life, his wishes and all of the beautiful and wonderful things he stood for, but she was in so much pain that I just wanted to fold her into my arms and cry with her... and we had never met before. As time has passed I have seen her several other times, and while she has gotten stronger it is clear that the loss of her father has completely rocked her to her very core. Even the thought of losing my own dad puts me in touch with those emotions, and I can empathise very deeply. At the same time, she pushes to move on, to be a strong and wonderful wife and mother, and to be a friend to those who choose to be in her life... including me. While we don't spend a whole lot of time together one-on-one, I have felt a strong connection to her, and I very much hope that our friendship will continue to grow.
I decided to write Amie to send her some love and support, and to remind her that I was grateful she has entered my life, even if we aren't the closest of closest friends. She and I have tried a few times to get together and it's never quite worked out due to schedules, etc, so I reminded her of my desire to get that together sometime and for us to spend some time hanging out and just relaxing.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Letter #90 - Rosa
This project always seems to run a little Tribe-heavy when I've had a school weekend. Rosa is another Tribe Member. (for those of you just joining us, my Masters' cohort refers to ourselves as a Tribe).
I haven't had too many opportunities to work with Rosa yet, and this weekend's class made me aware of that. She and I were assigned to a group project and I realised I don't think I've ever really worked one-on-one with her yet. I made a decision to fix that next class if I have the chance.
Rosa is another one our quiet ones (we have a few), but when she does speak up it is usually something quite profound and challenging, so I love it when I see her inch up to the edge of her seat getting ready to enter the discussion. I sent her a letter after class this past weekend to let her know how much I enjoyed the chance to work on our assignment with her, and to wish her luck on the 3 papers we have due between now and our next class.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Letter #89 - Sheila
This is not my first letter to one of my classmates from my Masters program. I love my Masters program, and our Tribe is a very close-knit group who continues to dedicate itself to supporting each others' learning journeys. This past weekend was a school weekend for me, and I shared a particularly awesome experience Sheila. The experience was so awesome I felt the need to write her a letter commending her for it and thanking her for her support.
Some people just don't like speaking in large groups. They have dozens of reasons for why, it could be stage fright, it could be an issue of prep time, it could be they have a sore throat and don't want to speak up... Sheila is usually one of these people. I have worked with her in past classes on presentations, and witnessed first hand how badly she stresses, how much time she takes writing out word-for-word what she is going to present, and how she speedily reads through it in front of the class at a volume barely above a whisper. This weekend, I made Sheila my mission.
I don't typically have a problem speaking in front of large groups of people. I get nervous like anyone else, and I have times when it's the last thing I want to do, but in general, I'm pretty comfortable in front of a crowd once I get going. My educational and professional backgrounds have both enhanced this in me. When our class is assigned group presentations, I'm the one who takes the "let's talk out the basic points and just wing it" approach. This weekend I was assigned to Sheila's group, and I decided she needed a confidence boost.
As our group prepared for our presentation, Sheila kept stressing various facts from the reading she was focused on. I could see her getting more and more worked up, so I finally sat down immediately across from her and told her she needed to chill. She looked a little taken aback, which was part of my objective. I explained to her the strength of her perspective as I saw it, and tried to minimise the importance of the presentation and the grade. I also helped her craft her message so she was focused more on the story than on the facts and numbers. She seemed to settle down a little and seemed a tad more confident, though still pretty nervous. Luck would have it our group was to present last, so Sheila sat nervously through 3 other presentations and feedback sessions, waiting for her turn to speak. Then, she NAILED it. She was calm, spoke at a reasonable volume, didn't read her script, and she told the story. She still stumbled over a few of the facts she wanted to include, but she didn't freak out and lose focus when she stumbled. It was awesome.
When our group finished and the professors were giving feedback and the class was asking questions, one of our tribe members raised her hand and said "not that you didn't all do well, but I just really want to commend Sheila for the amazing job she did... what a huge improvement from the first time we ever heard her share in class!" Sheila was beaming. I was so excited for her.
My letter was pretty simple. I told her how awesome it was for me to watch her grow in skill and confidence, and reminded her of the important role she plays in our tribe.
Some people just don't like speaking in large groups. They have dozens of reasons for why, it could be stage fright, it could be an issue of prep time, it could be they have a sore throat and don't want to speak up... Sheila is usually one of these people. I have worked with her in past classes on presentations, and witnessed first hand how badly she stresses, how much time she takes writing out word-for-word what she is going to present, and how she speedily reads through it in front of the class at a volume barely above a whisper. This weekend, I made Sheila my mission.
I don't typically have a problem speaking in front of large groups of people. I get nervous like anyone else, and I have times when it's the last thing I want to do, but in general, I'm pretty comfortable in front of a crowd once I get going. My educational and professional backgrounds have both enhanced this in me. When our class is assigned group presentations, I'm the one who takes the "let's talk out the basic points and just wing it" approach. This weekend I was assigned to Sheila's group, and I decided she needed a confidence boost.
As our group prepared for our presentation, Sheila kept stressing various facts from the reading she was focused on. I could see her getting more and more worked up, so I finally sat down immediately across from her and told her she needed to chill. She looked a little taken aback, which was part of my objective. I explained to her the strength of her perspective as I saw it, and tried to minimise the importance of the presentation and the grade. I also helped her craft her message so she was focused more on the story than on the facts and numbers. She seemed to settle down a little and seemed a tad more confident, though still pretty nervous. Luck would have it our group was to present last, so Sheila sat nervously through 3 other presentations and feedback sessions, waiting for her turn to speak. Then, she NAILED it. She was calm, spoke at a reasonable volume, didn't read her script, and she told the story. She still stumbled over a few of the facts she wanted to include, but she didn't freak out and lose focus when she stumbled. It was awesome.
When our group finished and the professors were giving feedback and the class was asking questions, one of our tribe members raised her hand and said "not that you didn't all do well, but I just really want to commend Sheila for the amazing job she did... what a huge improvement from the first time we ever heard her share in class!" Sheila was beaming. I was so excited for her.
My letter was pretty simple. I told her how awesome it was for me to watch her grow in skill and confidence, and reminded her of the important role she plays in our tribe.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Letter #88 - Jenn
I often find myself reflecting on where relationships I am in, or have had came from. How they developed into what they are now. Jenn is one of those friends that I can trace the timeline of our friendship, but I can't ever quite trace the way in which our friendship deepened the way it did. Jenn is one of those friends that just simply is, and I love her dearly for it. Jenn has been on my mind quite a bit lately as she has been a great source of support for me these last several months, so I decided to send her a letter to tell her how much I love her and how glad I am to have her as a friend.
Jenn and I technically met when we were both still in high school, as we attended the same Senior High Church Camp, but we didn't really hang with the same circles, and she was a few years ahead of me and headed off to college. Our lives crossed paths again a few years later when I myself started college and there was Jenn. We both attended Michigan State University and shared several years with her there. During that time we shared in worship, in meals, in travel and in many many craft nights, impromptu movie nights and late night dessert runs.
I was thrilled when she moved back to Michigan after completing her masters degree and working for several years out of state, and have greatly enjoyed the last year getting to see her more frequently and rekindle our friendship. I hope my letter gives her even the slightest indication of how much she means to me, because she's freaking amazing.
Jenn and I technically met when we were both still in high school, as we attended the same Senior High Church Camp, but we didn't really hang with the same circles, and she was a few years ahead of me and headed off to college. Our lives crossed paths again a few years later when I myself started college and there was Jenn. We both attended Michigan State University and shared several years with her there. During that time we shared in worship, in meals, in travel and in many many craft nights, impromptu movie nights and late night dessert runs.
I was thrilled when she moved back to Michigan after completing her masters degree and working for several years out of state, and have greatly enjoyed the last year getting to see her more frequently and rekindle our friendship. I hope my letter gives her even the slightest indication of how much she means to me, because she's freaking amazing.
Letter #87 - Erin
I've moved. A lot. This means I've lived a lot of places, and had a lot of neighbours and a lot of friends. Erin is the first neighbour that I have any memories of, and also one of my first friends that I can remember. I turned 4 the week my family moved to Independence Missouri (my birthday has been almost exclusively spent mid-move or at a church camp) and Erin lived across the street. During our time there we would spend our days playing in each others' yards, creating dance and gymnastics routines in her basement, climbing trees at my house, or coming up with craft projects. We had countless sleepovers which always involved makeovers and movies and lots and lots of snacks and giggling. As we grew older and the trips back to Missouri became less and less frequent, we got worse at keeping tabs on each other. That never seemed to matter when we came face to face though and we would spend what little time we had together trying to catch up on jobs, classes, boys and music... more giggling, more dreaming, and lots of reminiscing.
Last year I got to spend some more time with Erin and I was so excited to learn that she had just gotten engaged. More giggling and girly stuff as we talked about my upcoming wedding and ideas for hers... more boys... more giggling. When the invitation to her wedding arrived I was so sad to have to RSVP no. Between a severe lack of finances, and having my masters class that weekend it just wasn't possible. I found myself thinking about her all week leading up to her big day, and the day of my mind kept wandering and wondering where she was at that point in the day, and what she was doing, and whether she was married yet... I wished so badly I could have been there. So instead, I wrote her a long letter. It got a bit mushy I will admit but come on... one of my earliest childhood friends got married just 9 months (to the day!) after me... I was bound to get sentimental!
Her younger sister is getting married in a month as well, and I unfortunately (for the same reasons) can't attend hers either... but I am hopeful that maybe in a year or so the world will have changed in such a way that maybe our paths can cross again and there will be more movies, more makeovers, and more giggling.
Letter #86 - Tilly
Bet you thought I abandoned this project! No, no, I've just been crazy busy and a little lazy the last month and a half. Beware, this means I'm in for some SERIOUS catching up in the next few weeks...
Letter #86 went out to my aunt Tilly. I've indicated before that I've never been geographically close to most of my family. Auntie Til and her clan were also usually not geographically close, so growing up she was kind of like the aunt I knew existed but had only met a handful of times, and really didn't know very well. I still can't really say I know her *well* but I've had the opportunity to get to know her better as I've grown up, and as that side of the family has renewed intentional get togethers over the last few years. Over Easter we all decided to get together on fairly short notice. I was pleased that my family and my husband and I were able to make arrangements so we were able to be there. It was the first time Auntie Til got to meet my husband, so it was nice to get to introduce him to another family member.
Til is the youngest of 5 on my dad's side of the family. As such, I've heard dozens of stories growing up about the trouble she got everyone else into (don't worry Auntie Til I take it all in context of the source!) :o) I decided to write her so I could include a few prints of the family photos I shot at our Easter get together. Oma has reached the age where we're all playing the "don't know how many more times we'll have a chance for big family portraits like this" game, so I sent Oma a few of the photos, and sent a few to Auntie Til as well.
I received a message from her this week saying she had received them and how glad she was to hear from me and to get the photos so I'm glad I was able to send them.
Letter #86 went out to my aunt Tilly. I've indicated before that I've never been geographically close to most of my family. Auntie Til and her clan were also usually not geographically close, so growing up she was kind of like the aunt I knew existed but had only met a handful of times, and really didn't know very well. I still can't really say I know her *well* but I've had the opportunity to get to know her better as I've grown up, and as that side of the family has renewed intentional get togethers over the last few years. Over Easter we all decided to get together on fairly short notice. I was pleased that my family and my husband and I were able to make arrangements so we were able to be there. It was the first time Auntie Til got to meet my husband, so it was nice to get to introduce him to another family member.
Til is the youngest of 5 on my dad's side of the family. As such, I've heard dozens of stories growing up about the trouble she got everyone else into (don't worry Auntie Til I take it all in context of the source!) :o) I decided to write her so I could include a few prints of the family photos I shot at our Easter get together. Oma has reached the age where we're all playing the "don't know how many more times we'll have a chance for big family portraits like this" game, so I sent Oma a few of the photos, and sent a few to Auntie Til as well.
I received a message from her this week saying she had received them and how glad she was to hear from me and to get the photos so I'm glad I was able to send them.
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