I have finally found my own voice…
It’s taken me almost two weeks to compose this blog post. Two weeks to take in, chew-up and process the experience I had in Seattle.
But I have found my voice, my vision… I found me.
I recently took a trip on my own (no kids, no husband) to Seattle, WA. It was to attend a photography workshop with a group of talented women, and lead by the very talented Yan Palmer. I adore Yan and her work. I fell in love with her images a few years ago while she was going through a difficult time in life, and I was too. I watched as her images told the story of her emotions, her thoughts, her rawness and even her vulnerability. So when she announced her workshop dates, and I saw a location only a few hours from me, I jumped at the chance to meet this person who had so inspired me.
She taught me things – but not about how to be like her, or pose and shoot and process like her. Although we did get to watch her do a family shoot – and I learned a lot of great tips from that. She really does some magic with families.
But mostly, she taught about connections. About how to connect with myself – and how to connect myself to my work. She taught me how to become a purple cow. She challenged me. She was honest. Somehow she made us all open up to our vulnerabilities and work with them. She lead each of us to the start of a path and left us starting on a journey.
I left inspired, renewed, and a little raw. And then I saw it.
The voice. The vision. The person I wanted to be. The photographer I wanted to be. The photographer I am. I know that I want my work to please someone – me. I am working on pleasing me. Shooting images for me. Taking the style that I have been trying so hard to find, and now running with it. I found it.
My style. What makes my photos, my photos.
So now I am about to embark on a journey to be able to share my voice with you all. Some people may not like it. And that is okay. But I will love it. I will own it. I will rock it.
My family has had an incredibly hard year – and we are facing a tougher year still. But through these emotionally challenging days, I have stories to share. Memories to cherish. Moments that will inspire. Moments that will leave me breathless. I am going to capture these moments, so every time I see these images, the emotions they evoke will flood me with the feelings, and reconnect me to me.
I hope that out there, there is another mom like me, who wants her story captured too. Because I am going to capture that for her.
Was the YamFamWay workshop worth it – absoultely. Did I learn all of Yan’s secrets? Nope, proabably not all of them – but I did learn so much more. Did I figure out what was missing from my photos – you betcha. But I’ve found it now. That raw honesty and the pure heart and soul that she pours into her workshops make it the amazing experience she promises it to be. She is open and honest and soul seeking. She really is as wonderful in person as her on-line presence. And she really did help me to figure me out and find my way.
Thanks for helping me find it Yan! (You might want to consider renaming the Yan Fam Way workshop to the Yan Find My Way workshop!)
Thanks to Heather for opening her home to us. and to Katy for letting up capture her beautiful family during the workshop shoot. Aren’t they the adorable!
To that group of women I connected with in Seattle, and to the inspiring Diana Palmer – thank you for letting me open up and share, and laugh and cry. Thanks for the fun times, the emotional times, the honesty, the love languages, the process, the Tarasco! (Special thanks to Kristin for hanging out and taking my new head shots… and for that embarrassing moment at PF Chang’s!)
XO
Ally
