Throughout my life I had never thought of myself as a creative, that whole "left brain, right brain" thing I just assumed I wasn't creative and wouldn't be able to accomplish things like that in my life. That is until I found PHOTOGRAPHY.
Loving what you do, is an amazing thing!
Over the course of my life I've worked many different jobs and had plenty of learning experiences through odd job opportunities and schooling. Only recently over the past few years have I discovered what passion for your work really is and feels like, and its truly amazing.
Before starting my schooling at Niagara College for Photography I had graduated from the Police foundations program and spent my time after that program in the security field. I had found a position that I was so passionate about that I very quickly moved up in the company and continued to achieve new goals I would set for myself, and made the place I worked at safer and more efficient.
So now that I've explained a bit of my drive and love for my previous profession/job we can now talk about photography!
Throughout my life I had never thought of myself as a creative, that whole "left brain, right brain" thing I just assumed I wasn't creative and wouldn't be able to accomplish things like that in my life. I had tried drawing and writing short stories for myself but I just couldn't do it. I took a leap of faith applying to the Photography program with Luke in an effort to find more purpose, more drive as well as a skill I could use for the rest of my life that I could be proud of. Within the first week of taking the program my teachers had shown me so much and I loved every single thing I learned and soaked it in unlike anything I've ever learned before in my past schooling. I would spend hours after class was finished likely annoying my teachers with the barrages of questions, and there still didn't seem to be enough time in class or in the regular school day to stop learning.
The strike! Oh the strike, it was absolutely terrible. Luke and I spent every day looking for work, looking for fun instagram shots to be had and exploring our new beloved world of photography but there was a problem to all of this practical experience we were gaining. We only learned so much! We knew a few different ways to do business head shots, how to properly expose the shot, and we didn't know how to properly use our speed lights. I found myself on youtube often, learning how to use photoshop in a more in-depth way as well as how to learn these extra techniques aspects. I had come to realize that youtube wasn't enough during the strike, I wasn't going to school so youtube could teach me things I was going because professional photographers were there to show us how to make it in the industry and to do things better than the common youtube photographer. So what I did was I started waking up early and waiting for my teachers to arrive to the school to picket and asking them questions on how to do what I needed to do. They were a blessing and so helpful to the point that it drove me to work harder and harder throughout the strike.
Luke and I did photography night and day at all times throughout this whole school year. I learned everything I could and pursued a career in this field thanks to the help of the summer business grant.
My point to this is, it doesn’t feel like work. I love it and the amount that I get enthralled in this is amazing. I don't ever plan to stop putting this amount of effort in because the hunt for that amazing shot, the planning of a unique and complicated design falling into place perfectly is just gold.
Be sure to follow along as I explore this amazing art form.
Mackenzie...
