Portraits that made me fall in love with photography

01 Dec Portraits that made me fall in love with photography

You always hear about an “aha moment” that changed the direction of someone’s life after a realization of a passion. This happened to me in 2016. Before I had this experience I was in what felt like limbo. I finished my BA in Law but had no interest or confidence to follow that path. I started taking nursing classes at Algonquin college because I love people and helping those in need. I was dreading another round of school and was feeling overwhelmed with life in general. I no longer was interested in modelling but there was something in me that made me not want to close the door on the photography scene. It had been my stress relief throughout all the years of University which I greatly needed because of my dyslexia. I decide to take a photography course. I thought “how hard can photography really be.”

The course I took was a basic introduction to photography. I found I knew a lot already from the years I put in as a model. But the course greatly helped me learn the basics and know how to use a camera. I decided I wouldn’t enrol into the full photography program and instead learn as I shoot through experience.

I reached out to two models in Ottawa after completing the course. The first model I photographed was Tia, whose incredibly beautiful with long thick brown curly hair and big expressive eyes. The second model was Caitlin, who reminds me a lot of Rachel from the TV show Friends. Her fashion sense, the way she held herself, and how friendly she was made me feel that I had been friends with her forever. Even though in reality we just met.

I remember it was when I was photographing Caitlin that I felt that aha moment. I was in pure bliss creating and capturing portraits that were my own style. I used to study portraits I loved while modelling and now I had the ability to create them myself. She is a great model to work with and the photos we were making together blew my mind.

I am so grateful to have had this moment, to be daring enough to try my hand in photography, to have modelled to lead me to this place I am now. And to be dyslexic to need an art outlet in my life to feel like myself and calm. I do believe things happen for a reason and I wake up every morning blessed to be a photographer and to have the ability to capture women’s beauty that may have not seen themselves before.

Here are the portraits from those two first sessions