My first camera was a Christmas gift when I was just ten years old. I never saw the first photos I ever took, because I mailed the film canister away and the prints simply disappeared before I received them. Not a great start, but….
With income from my earliest paying jobs, I bought my second camera, which saw me through college, and with which I learned a lot about composition, lighting, timing, and patience in the art.
The evolution of the point-and-shoot 35mm camera, and the availability of the marvelous and now extinct Kodachrome film, provided the tools for my initial venture into photo-documentary when I traveled to England on a summer trip following college. Now I have so many photo albums, friends joked about them weighing more than the furniture the last time I moved.
Back in 2001, the degenerative nature of a rare birth defect in my arms produced such pain and restriction that I could barely lift a camera to my eyes to take a picture. But God gave that back to me; since then, I have entered photo contests annually and earned a variety of ribbons—with gratefulness to Him! It truly is a hobby I have enjoyed. And I especially have relished being able to make gifts with my photography.
2011 brought the first requests for photos from my personal archive in true documentary sense; I have been able to contribute to presentations at award ceremonies, showers, class reunions, home renovations, funerals, other occasions, and on Facebook. I adore sharing the fun of looking back over the lives of people I love. In addition, I have been sought out by more than one aspiring photographer for a sort of advising or mentoring role, which I hope will multiply the joy.
As I expand my contacts, I look forward to promoting local and state tourism with historic and scenic photos; a love of God’s creation with florals, seasonals, butterflies, and sunsets; and (naturally) some “focus” on my favorite highway, pop-culture icon Route 66.
Laurie Eve Loftin joined Pixels.com Licensing on May 14th, 2011.
