by Jen Longo

Created on: January 21, 2009

Photography is more than just a hobby....it is an experience. It is an opportunity.

I have been an artist since I can remember, but photography was never something I even thought of doing up until about 3 years ago. For some reason when I would pick up a camera, I felt unstoppable. I would capture an image and look at it on the computer screen or as a print, and just found myself excited at the thought of capturing a beautiful moment. That is what photography is all about....freezing moments we may otherwise never be able to experience again.

Growing up, I moved more than most normal kids would. My father was in the Coast Guard and my parents were divorced. As a result, I was never really able to stay in one place until my junior year of high school. I lived everywhere from Pennsylvania, to Minnesota, to Hawaii. When you get the opportunity to live in so many different environments, why would you not want to take advantage of freezing a beautiful moment? Well, I didn't figure this out until my late teens.

I got my first SLR (which was a Canon 35mm) on Christmas in 2006. I had no idea how to work it, not a clue as to what I was doing at all. All I knew was that I couldn't wait to get out and make some new memories. I would take pictures of anything and everything just so I could develop them and try to get a feel as to how I was suppose to work the darn thing (as far as getting the proper exposure in different lighting situations.) I loved my 35mm, but less than a year later I decided it was time to move on to the digital age of photography. This is where I really started to have fun.

My first DSLR was a Nikon D50. I paid for it myself, and I took it everywhere. Soon it became an addiction. I was constantly wanting to take photos, so I would experiment on other people. It soon became apparent that this is what I was put on earth to do, take pictures. People became quite fond of my photos and soon enough began to ask me to do pictures for them of their families, weddings, etc. These were nice in order to get some side money, but the real fun was, and still is in taking photos as a hobby. I could capture anything and everything that I wanted.

Two years later, I am still taking photos. I take pride in every tear I catch, every kiss I snap, and every smile I capture. You don't know the value of a photo until you are a photographer.

My boyfriend of two year's mother absolutely loves my work, she adores it. Anytime I take a new photo of her little boy, she has to have it. In the summer of 2007, she had me take pictures of her while family. When she got them printed, she plastered them all over her house. She loves her kids dearly, and I captured them for who they were...not some overly-posed department store photos. Only months later, in the winter of 2008, her youngest son was in a horrific car accident. He suffered irreparable amounts of brain damage and was nearly killed among the wreckage. Miraculously, he lived, but he is still not quite himself. He can no longer walk, talk, and has a hard time eating. What does this have to do with photography, you ask?

Everything. That summer of 2007, I took plenty of images of her son. What if he would have never made it? She would not have had any recent, good photos, to remember him by. She used the photos I took, and placed them near his hospital bed to jog his memory for when he awoke from his coma. She now has photos that she loves, and can use them to remember how Bradley used to be before that horrifying night.

It's times like those I tell myself, this is what photography is about. Keeping the memory alive, and capturing those beautiful moments you may have otherwise missed.

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