Learning to be a Photographer

Seven years ago, all I wanted to be was a photographer.  I burned with the idea that I could portray the beauty of the world around me in pictures. I had a fancy new camera and no idea how to use it.  Oh, I could put it on automatic and take pictures but if I had a success, I didn’t know how to repeat it.  After listening to me whine for what must have seemed a very long time, my husband gave me a trip to a photography retreat in the mountains of North Carolina.  That week at the Kanuga Conference Center just outside of Hendersonville changed my life.

At first, I was awkward and shy with my fellow “campers,” sure they knew so much more about photography than I did.  I couldn’t even speak to the talented professional instructors – they held a place on a pedestal I knew I could never attain.  When Lydia, my first teacher, told me to take my camera off automatic and click it over to the manual settings, I almost fainted!  But under her sweet and gentle guidance, I actually progressed, soaking up her generously given knowledge as fast as I could. 

We rambled through the Blue Ridge Mountains that week, soaking up the experience and “making” both memorable pictures and enduring memories.  We spent our days with our cameras in our hands and our evenings sitting in the gathering twilight, laughing, talking and teasing, sharing our love of photography.  I made friends too, many of whom remain dear to me all of these long years later.

After my week in the mountains, I went home and practiced my craft, making the pilgrimage to Kanuga each spring to learn more, learn more, learn more.  This blog and this website exist, in fact, because of all I’ve learned there throughout the years and put into practice in my life. 

I’ll go back to Kanuga again this spring to learn even more, renew old friendships, and make many new ones.  Come to the mountains with me.  Start or enhance your photographic journey.  I guarantee you will love it and that your life will be changed, too.

Follow the link below to get to the Kanuga website and see what they have to offer.  See you in April!

http://www.kanuga.org/conference-calendar/conference-calendar-details/kanuga-photography-retreat