When I was in my early teens, my best friend, Alisa, introduced me to Danielle Steel. Danielle Steel is an American author whose books are characterized by young women with traumatic childhoods who marry wealthy, much older men. Initially, I was caught up in the romance of the stories… To my thirteen-year-old mind, wealth and glamour went hand in hand with love and romance. Never mind that these women were marrying men who were old enough to be their fathers. That being said, one story stuck with me and would have a significant influence on me.
Message from Nam told the story of Paxton Andrews, a female war correspondent who wrote a newspaper column about the Vietnam War. The book follows her from high school to her time as a war correspondent to her life after the Paris peace talks. It was while reading this book that I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up: a war correspondent/documentary photographer.
At the time, I didn’t really know there was such a career as a documentary photographer, but I knew that I wanted to tell the stories of people whose lives had been disrupted by war. I wanted to put a human face to the statistics. And Paxton Andrews let me know what was possible {just another reason why books are important and having friends who love books can be life changing}.
Obviously, I didn’t grow up to become a war correspondent or a documentary photographer, but I did grow up to become a librarian who takes photos for my college. Kind of the same thing.
ABOUT WHERE BLOGGERS LIVE
Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes? Over the next few months, we’ll share about our work spaces, home towns, and more!
I should note – because this is super important – the creative brain behind this project is Bettye at Fashion Schlub! Love her!
The Celebrity Bloggers
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Dog Hair
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Iris at Iris’s Original Ramblings
Leslie at Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
THE PROMPT: The Best Gift I’ve Ever Received
And, while I consider the gift of books {specifically that book} from Alisa a great gift, I’d have to add my camera to that list as well. The Hubs bought me my first camera when we moved to Missouri. I didn’t know anyone, the job situation hadn’t quite worked out for me yet, and I was slowly seeping into a bout of depression. One day, he walked into the house with a camera and iPad and said “Go take some pictures. Get out of the house.” The funny thing is that I’d never told him about Message from Nam or my interest in becoming a correspondent/documentary photographer. He just knew I needed to do something that would get me out of the house and around people without necessarily having to talk to people {I’m an introvert who masquerades as an extrovert}.
When I first started taking photos, my images were bad. I had no idea about how to use light to elicit emotions or how to capture candid photos while still ensuring flattering images of the person. I didn’t know to pose people to highlight the things they love about themselves while minimizing their insecurities. I just knew that I enjoyed being behind the lens. I knew this was something I really wanted to do and that I’d enjoy.
I obsessed over YouTube, registered for online courses with every photography group I could find, I joined photo challenges, and practiced, practiced, practiced.
While I don’t consider myself a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination, I have been hired by friends, coworkers, and friends of friends to document their special events: graduation, elopements, birthday celebrations, and more.
The Piano Player
The Wedding
Elevator Ride
Mother and Son
And, as I said before, I take many of the photos for the college where I work and have seen some of my images used by our college system, former governor, and others on their social media pages. You can see my work on Instagram.
So, yeah, the best gifts I’ve ever received are books and a camera.
Stay tuned and I’ll tell you about the most sentimental gifts I’ve ever received. Hint: they’re over twenty years old, my kids bought them for me at the school store, and I still wear them.
AFFILIATE INFORMATION
As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support.
Reading and reviewing books brings me a great deal of happiness. If you’re a reader, I’d love for you to visit my online bookstore, Living Outside the Stacks, to make your purchase. If you purchase from my shop, I’ll receive a small commission and you’ll also support indie bookstores. If you need help staying organized, but want to keep it pretty, I invite you to give Artful Agenda a try. It’s a digital planner inspired by paper planners. Use my code: RD1191716. Artful Agenda connects effortlessly to your Google and Outlook calendars and works across devices.
THANK YOU
Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new. If you like what you read, please consider sharing this post on Facebook or Twitter. You can also share on Pinterest. While I pay for many of the items I share on this blog out of my own pocket, some items are gifted to me {I always disclose those items}.
Come back soon,
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