I picked up a crappy point and shoot camera and turned it off Auto in late 2011. I have worked my absolute butt off in the past 4 years. SO many times ive told my friend Gina (from Gina Marie Photography in Albury) that im giving up. She slaps me in the face and I keep going. Ive cried over how hard it is to set up as a 'no-digital-files' photographer, spent an entire 14 months searching for a print lab that works for me and works well with me (including a LOT of money paying for test prints at so many locations), read enormous amounts of photography material, watched hours and hours of tutorials and sponging up as much info as I can. Ive discovered my passion is families, I have discovered I love artificial light more than natural light (although I can now work with both, but i can create the EXACT look I want if ive got a couple of speedlights and modifiers with me. Even just plain old white cardboard as a modifier is a regular go to), I know my gear so well that I just pick it up and use it and know whats going to happen, I get that excited butterflies feeling before meeting with clients but its no longer that terrified nervousness that I had to pretend wasnt there for years, and im being smart about how I go about things rather than scrambling for whatever jobs I can get. In my mind I toyed with this photo idea for a few years but I just had to hold off and wait for my skills to catch up. I feel really proud of this photo because it marks a significant point in my 'journey' (hate that word.. its so... wanky) where everything is coming together, and where the aspects of my style FINALLY are coming together for me. And Im actually starting to see it.