I did something that I never do last night, which is join a group on a walk, the Phoenix Photowalk, organized by the NAPP, (National Association of Photoshop Professionals.) I must admit, after I got over my initial shyness, I had a great time. I shot some models, met some very funny and interesting photographers, including one very cool woman who sat by me at dinner, who had so much in common with me, it was scary...including saying one thing that I always say, which is that I roll around on the floor all day with the kids I shoot, so that made me laugh... and made me realize that I really don't get out enough. The amount of guys who have been at it for 20 years, just for the love of photography, never imagining that they could make enough to get paid floored me. I thought it was so cool, to shoot whatever I wanted, so I did, which was very freeing for me and just kind of re-engineered my feeling of how much I love what I do. I broke free from the models and started shooting a little boy who was in the waterpark running around with such joy and abandon that it just made my heart happy, and then I waited until after the sun set and shot the Tempe bridge. The people behind me were all like, "Why is she shooting now, she lost the light?" I just wanted to turn around and tell them, but I didn't because I didn't want to make them felel funny, so I'll tell you--the best light to shoot landscapes is after the sun sets--try it. You'll be so surprised.
