Where it all began…

This past Christmas my sister and I purchased a machine to convert my dad’s thirty year old slides into JPG format. It was a blessing in disguise as I have enjoyed looking at these past memories just as much as my parents. My parents come from a small island that belongs to the Archipelago of the Azores called Terceira. The Azores islands belong to Portugal. Many of the pictures on the slides were taken in Terceira at a time where most of my parents family back home couldn’t afford a camera, so needless to say they didn’t even know these pictures existed. However, times have changed, most of them are connected to Facebook, so I have been uploading the pictures onto there. Its been amazing to see their reactions to the photos, considering most of them right now don’t even own any pictures of themselves when they were young. I have received many gracious comments for providing them the opportunity to look into their past. 🙂

Well where am I going with this? 🙂 As I was looking through the 1000 slides we converted, many of them had me with dogs, cats, fish, nature, etc. This is where it all began and made me the photographer and animal lover I am today. I always remember me growing up with nature or animals around me. Whether it was me feeding my uncle’s cows, helping a calve to find her mom’s milk, riding on a tractor in Portugal or even just chasing around a mouse in the backyard. I have always had a love and connection to animals. Photography is also the other part of my life that I have always enjoyed. I remember my dad buying me my first camera when I was 12. Looking at these slides resonates with me the importance of catching family and the people we love in a photo. No amount of money can replace these memories and especially reliving them through photography. I hope to give back my models and their family members a photo that just isn’t a photo, but a memory that can be cherished forever.

I posted a few pics of me growing up with animals of course! Enjoy! 🙂