10/15/2020
My journey back to this page on Facebook, which was once my photography page, is really an act which has been a full year in the making. Just over a year ago I joined Filming Life Academy. Photography has been a part of me since childhood when I got my first camera for Christmas. And I can remember saving up for my first serious Canon film camera I bought in the early 1990's, which cost me over $500 and was not a purchase I made lightly. Along the way I bought more cameras and gear, took classes and worked on my photography. And once I had children I had daily, if not hourly inspiration some days, to press my photography and feel my way though motherhood with my images by my side. But along with photos, and the gentle nudging of my husband, I also took video here and there.
After one of our moves, I stared down into a box that contained tiny little tapes from the early days of our marriage and birth of our children. I had one of those mini camcorders back then. But we could no longer view the tapes. As a Christmas gift to us almost three years ago, I purchased one of those kits from a service that would digitize old tapes. By the time I rounded everything up and sent it off, it was Mother's Day by the time they arrived back on our doorstep. Watching those little clips of video was like opening tiny doors in my heart I forgot were there as I not only saw our family, but listened to the voices and to all the things that were swirling around us at all those stages in life.
Around that same time, I discovered Courtney Holmes. And I watched one of her family films. Before I knew it, I was tearing up. I was watching complete strangers and I was tearing up. I looked at my camera in a new way from that day on.
I stayed connected with Courtney and even took an online class from her, but eventually Courtney founded The Filming Life Academy which now has three incredible lead educators (Courtney, Kylie Purtell, and Allison Redmon) surrounded by other supporting educators and an entire community of photographers like me talking the world by storm using their cameras to tell stories and capture life in film. The academy offers both education and support, and after creating my most recent film in the academy (which I posted here a few days ago), I decided to start my business again - but this time as a photo and film business! I wouldn't be doing this if it had not been for me finding and joining the academy. Here is a look back at the very first film I made back when I took the class with Courtney right before she started the academy. And stick with this page as I begin to post films I will be crafting as Forza Foto & Film!
