Getting Started
Nike said it perfectly, “Just Do It.” However, taking that first step towards something that you really want to do, especially if it entails baring your creative soul out there for all to see is HARD. You can easily come up with every excuse known to civilization why it is impossible for you to proceed in your new endeavor/career/passion, but don’t. Just Do It.
Everything about taking pictures with my camera makes me very happy.
However, at some point in the past couple of years photography turned into more than just a hobby that brought me joy. It became more of a passion and creative expression of how I saw and felt the world around me. I was no longer shooting just to get a cute snapshot to document a birthday or a day of vacation, but I began to look for compositional elements, where the best light was coming from, and how I could convey an emotional connection in each scene. More importantly, it became a way to slow down the busyness and messiness of everyday life and capture those fleeting, beautiful moments that you so easily forget if you can’t look back at them.
I knew the pictures I was taking of my family and our lives together filled my heart. I would now always remember how Ella hugged her stuffed rabbit just so long after she stopped carrying it everywhere, and Katie’s 15 year-old smirk and how Kelsey’s beautiful blonde curls lit up in the sunlight because one look at those pictures could carry me back to those moments. I also knew from the feedback I was receiving from friends and acquaintances that other people thought my photography was very good and they too would love pictures of their children/families too. And the idea of starting my own business began to form.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, there are so many reasons not to begin down a new path, but excuses are boring. Action is exciting. So after a few months of preparation, including practice sessions, taking a business class, internalizing Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic”, here I go. I am just doing it. Kerri Calistri Photography is born and I am smiling.
I hope I will also see your smiling face as I snap away creating beautiful photos and memories for you and your family.