{Is This thing On?}

WOOTY-WOOT-WOOT!  I’m here.  So here’s the sitch.  I have been intending to start a blog for almost 7 years now.  (I’ll pause so you, namely my sister, can pick yourself up off the floor)  This here little post of mine will be THE inaugural, the debut, THE MAIDEN VOYAGE post to start off my journey into being more inspiring, finding my voice and RAISING it, giving back, and keepin’ it real!  Ever since I stepped onto this crazy photography scene, I have coveted Amy Wenzel’s photography (I’ll repent later).  Let’s face it, who doesn’t consider Amy da BOMBDIGGITY!!!  Not only for her mad photog skillz, but for her mad life skillz as well. Beautiful inside and out.  I am so grateful for this opportunity to jump outside my comfy little box and hopefully WIN a seat at her workshop via the awesome blog, iheartfaces.  Entering this contest is not about winning for me, but about taking the first step and shushing those ugly voices (think Fran Drescher meets Cruella DeVille) in my head saying that I can’t.  Okay, who am I kidding, you betcha I want to WIN, but this is so much more than that.  Now all I have to do is find some WONKAVISION so I can smuggle my little sister to the workshop in my purse…

AMY WENZEL,  YOU are an INSPIRING woman and have SERVED me by having this contest… you got me off my keester and

I started a blog {enter cheers and jeers here}!  So even if I don’t WIN… I’ve won.

IT”S ON!!!

“Tell us how you love, serve or inspire other people in your life, and what attending the workshop might mean

for your photography journey… in 600 words or less.”

{BIG DEEP BREATH}

http://www.bit.ly/95o58

Dedicated to Daddy and Grandpa Mac

Theme song #1: “Turnaround” by Joy Williams

Theme song #2: “Fighting For It ALL” by Mindy smith

Theme song#3: “Open Happiness” by Brendon Urie, Cee-Lo…

We’re going straight for the big time here, well, because it’s time.  Yes, time for a lot of things!  There is a subject in my family that is kind of like the “he-who-should-not –be-named” of Harry Potter…  I’m speaking of 18 years ago when AIDS took my father’s life and my 17-year-old dreams along with it.  The circumstances that surround the entire experience are complicated and painful, but my laundry list will have to wait.  (I’ll save that for our girl talk at the workshop {wink-wink})  I want to focus on the positive inspiration it has brought into my life.

My father’s passing gave me a gift.  After my grandfather died, what would have been my dad’s small inheritance was split between my four siblings and me.  It was just enough for me to get my Mac Daddy camera I’d always wanted and get started in living out my passion.  Now I get to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps of his love for photography and leave a legacy for my posterity.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people

will never forget how you made them feel” –Maya Angelou

It’s not just the news worthy things that inspire, it’s the simple everyday things that make great things come to pass.  From a very young age I became acutely aware of how my energy affects other people.   I could light up a room belting out Annie’s “Tomorrow” into my jump rope microphone, or I could watch the poop hit the fan as I sassed my mother into a frenzy.  When someone told me I was contagious (in a good way), I realized that I could use this energy in my small way to inspire others.  Inspiring someone can be something as simple as making a friend laugh so hard she pees her pants, or teaching my girls the importance of kindness.  Photography has given me the opportunity to inspire, like the time I made a girl cry happy tears because in her words she felt beautiful for the first time after seeing her senior pictures we created.  If just being me inspires, then AMEN sistah!  But you see… as I’m supposedly inspiring these people in these moments, it is actually they who have inspired me.

{caption on back reads, “Dana the movie star singer (microphone jump rope)” 1979}

“Know the theory, know the scales but when it comes time to play – just play!” –John Coltrane

Coltrane’s saying about music skills applies well to photography.  I’m ready to play!!!  I’m ready to master the technical side to give me the means to express my creativity loud and clear.  Creativity lies in my soul not in my camera bag, but I need an extra push to bring the two together.   I Feel like I’m standing on stage waiting for the music to start.   Like this blog, I am a blank page ready to be written upon.  I have more to give.  I want to come away from the workshop not only a better photographer, but also a better person!

Timing.  They say it’s everything.  So, until March 31st, I will be biting my nails wondering if it’s my time.  All who have shared their stories are worthy and have won just for hitting that button and having their voice heard. Now all I have to do is push the publish button.  You could do a tribal dance to the sound of my heart; it’s beating so loud.  Time to make Daddy proud.

Here I go… 1… 2…3…