The Personal Category | Skagit County Photographer

Here’s a first: I just created a “Personal” category for this blog (for this entry).

Everyone says that photographers should blog. So, I started this blog. I didn’t really commit to it, though, until very recently.

You see, I have another blog, a personal blog, that I started back in 2008 when I was going through breast cancer treatment. Never, in a million years, did I think I would be a blogger, but it turned out that people wanted to follow me and writing was therapeutic for me. Kind of like group therapy, with the biggest group of supporters I’ve never met. I haven’t updated my personal blog for a few months and it’s still getting hundreds of hits. Go figure!

My plan was to keep the two blogs completely separate: personal stuff on the personal blog and photography stuff on this blog. I had a major wake-up call this week, however, in the person of Jasmine Star. Basically, she’s a very successful photographer who really puts herself out there. And the one thing she maintains is this: YOU are your brand.

You know, I already knew that, instinctively. I realized that the people who are the most responsive to my photography (biggest supporters and commenters on my Facebook fan page, etc.), are women that I know. Most of them are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s (with some peripheral ages thrown in as well).

What do we have in common? Most of us are married and have children. As mothers, we relate to the passage of Scripture that says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

We love beauty, especially the beauty of a kairos moment, those moments we want to capture and hold close to our hearts for as long as possible, even to the end of our days. We want memories of our kairos moments surrounding us, on our walls, in books with pages worn with use, on our computer screens, shared with friends, but mostly, kept in our hearts.

What is a kairos moment? The ancient Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos. While chronos refers to chronological or sequential time, kairos signifies a time between—a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens.

Honestly, I have been amazed, privileged, and just blown away this last year that I have been entrusted with photographing these moments for people–moments that can never be re-lived–but that will be preserved and treasured for the rest of their lives through my photos. When I think about the responsibility of doing that for someone–I won’t lie–I’m stricken with fear!

I never anticipated being a photographer. The way it came about was a long, winding road. Maybe I’ll write about that in another entry. But I do know this: I’ve always been a storyteller and a lover of beauty.

Maybe having gone through cancer treatment prepared me for this. I’m less afraid to embrace life and pursue the things I’ve always wanted to do. More than ever, I realize how fragile life is. 

The ultimate blessing is to capture those kairos moments, not just for me, but for others as well.

(I went out to scout a photo location this weekend. Here are a few photos from my jaunt.)