Does anyone relate to this?…MIRRORLESS CAMERAS ARE TOO SHARP! There’s something uncanny to me about photos that are sharper than the human eye. They lose a certain poetry for me in their hyperrealism. For ten years I’ve told myself that to be considered a professional photographer, my images need to be as sharp as technology will allow. For years I’ve pixel peeped and lost heart when my focus was soft. I’ve even upgraded cameras solely in pursuit of more pixels. I’m over it. Fighting who I am only leads to frustration.

Call it confidence (er, stubbornness) borne on middle age…call it rounding a decade as a visual artist…call it a deep longing for a more film-like feel to my work. In 2023 I’m stepping into who God made me…a mom-tog who starts every day reading poetry.

At long last, I’ve begun shooting wide open at ridiculous apertures, my army of art lenses are in higher rotation, filters are getting slapped on lenses I find too sharp, the clarity slider is getting a tiny nudge down, and clients are getting images like these.

I imagine there’s a client out there shifting in their seat a little. Don’t worry. I’ll ensure that the portrait shots you’re counting on are sharp. Your more gentle moments I would love to reveal for you in a softer way.

These gentle moments belong to MaeLynn, a mama my heart clings to. Until recently, she taught my youngest, Cora, violin. Cora has an underdeveloped left hand with only three functional fingers with which to finger the violin strings. MaeLynn’s response to this challenge? “I want to be part of your daughter’s story.”

My heart and camera are hers for life.