Hi, I'm Heather Boutwell, a freelance photographer just starting out and I thought I'd take you on my journey with me. I've always been interested in photography but never owned anything more than a point and shoot until I was 51 years old! I bought a Nikon d7500, set it on auto and started taking pictures. I then realized there's so much more to taking a beautiful or emotional photograph than just setting on auto and clicking a button. I wanted to know more. I HAD to know more! So I enrolled in a technical college to take a course for digital photography last year, at 53 years old. Not only has it been educational, but it has really expanded my ability to set the scene in a photo with my camera and post processing. I have already noticed a significant difference in my photos because educating yourself about your tool is the best thing you can do in your profession. Now I must practice practice practice, and continue to educate myself.
I really enjoy nature photography, candid photography, and product photography. Since I'm just starting, I haven't really settled on a specific photography niche yet, but so far these are my favorites. I love the beauty in nature that so many of us take for granted everyday. From the flower in your yard that's really a weed, to beautiful lakes, rivers and oceans. Clouds, wildlife and numerous other things we see but fail to appreciate in the moment are still important to capture. I also love to shoot those moments that are unexpected. Those moments when the kids are pitching a fit, or your dogs are wrestling with each other. I also love to capture moments at birthday parties, grand openings or an anniversary. I like to shoot any special moment, because once it's gone, it's gone forever unless you're lucky enough to capture it, and freeze it in time.
Product photography is so interesting to me because it is a niche in photography that allows you to expand your creativeness with guidance (meaning you must adhere to brand standards and statements and concentrating on a true representation of that particular brand), which to me, will help you in other photography genres. The finished product comes out looking so clean and fresh and actually gets you excited for the work you just did, it makes you crave to do more!
Finally, family is also a top priority of mine and always has been. So many of my photos are of my grandkids (bless their hearts for putting up with me)! We spend time with family and before we know it the kids are grown and gone, grandkids come and they grow and have the great grands and so many moments are lost to memory or thru the death of a loved one who was there or remembers it. It's so important to capture these moments not only for our enjoyment but for the enjoyment of our future descendants. Seeing the people they came from, great great grandparents or even their spouses seeing them as a young child brings a certain amount of realism to these stories and gives us a visual picture of the scene and or person at the time. Makes our own people REAL people we can look at and see ourselves in. And gives others who may, 50 years from now, look at these moments, just a small peek into the past. So join me along this new journey to watch my victories and my struggles as I begin to navigate my new world of professional photography!