My journey into photography started well after I purchased my first SLR Camera in 1990. It was a 35mm Minolta film camera. When I purchased that camera, I thought I was getting a professional camera that would instantly make my photos better. I was quickly slapped in the face when I wasted countless rolls of film taking crappy photos. That camera did not get much use because I simply did not understand anything about photography.

Fast-forward to 2008. I received a blessing - my beautiful daughter Audrey was born. Now, anyone who knows me know that I love my daughters (2 years later I had my second) more than anything in this world and wanted to capture special moments of them.

So, in 2009 I purchased a DSLR camera from one the big warehouse stores. My thinking was since it’s digital I would not have to worry about wasting film anymore. Also, with digital, I could use Photoshop to fix anything. Well you guessed it, digital did not make a bit of difference. I still took crappy photos and, here’s a little tip for non-photographers, Photoshop is not all that easy to learn.

I finally had enough of taking crappy phots when one of those special moments occurred and I failed once again. Fed up, I began to analyze why I was not getting good photos. Then it hit like a ton of bricks. I realized that there were many dials and buttons on my camera and I only used 2 of them, one to turn it on and the other to take the photo. So, I read the camera manual and learned the function of the other buttons.

The next day, there was a moment when I looked into Audrey’s eyes and saw innocence and beauty. It was such a magical moment that I got my camera to capture it. This time I utilized more than 2 buttons and dials capturing the image you see here. I realize that it is not technically perfect, but it perfectly captures the essence of what I see when I look at my daughter and therefore it is PERFECT! I credit my daughter and this image as starting me on my journey into the world of photography.