Toddle Along Tuesday | Hobbies

I've mentioned before on this blog, but one thing I do for fun is photography.  Unfortunately, due to my unofficial policy of not posting photos of my family's faces on this blog (gotta keep it anonymous!), I don't get to share many/any of my photos with you here. 

I don't even know when I really got interested in photography, but I do know I still have photos from photo shoots me and my childhood best friend took when we were in elementary school.  (I tried to find one of these gems to share with you, but they seem to be buried deep in boxes in my garage.  Sorry, readers.  I assure you they were true works of art!)

Film photo of my siblings, circa 2000.

I couldn't tell you what my first camera was, but I do know it was a super old-school film camera that made square prints.  My next camera was a 35mm Vivitar, and I literally used that thing to death.  After the Vivitar, I splurged and bought a Canon Elph, which was my last film camera.  My high school graduation present was my first digital camera, an HP-something.  It was FOUR megapixels, and the pinnacle of technology at the time.  (It was the length of my hand, and hilariously large by today's standards!)  My next purchase was a Sony Cybershot in 2006, and then I finally made the leap to a digital SLR, my Nikon D3000, when I received it as a Christmas gift from S in 2010 (BEST GIFT EVER!).

Belly self-portrait while pregnant with E.

Although I've always taken photos of literally everything, these days my main focus (no pun intended, heh) is children and families -- primarily, E. ;-)  I took belly photos each week when I was pregnant, newborn photos when she arrived, monthly photos to document her growth, and pretty much every other photo of her ever since!

One of E's newborn photos, four days old.

I love having the ability to capture so many moments in our lives.  Not to mention, I am saving us thousands of dollars in professional photography by taking so many photos of E myself!  haha  I also do the occasional newborn, family, or senior photo session for friends or family, which I also really enjoy.

Photo from my sister's senior photo session.

I love the creative outlet that photography provides, and I also enjoy the challenge of pushing myself to learn new techniques and improve my skills.  In my day-to-day life of laundry, dirty diapers, toddler-wrangling, deadlines, and client demands, it is one thing that I can truly say I do just for myself. :-)