I do, I really do love being a photographer. I can honestly say that I’m one of those cheesy people that can say “I’ve had a camera in my hands since I was a little girl” and it be 100% true. I’m not “old” but being able to say I grew up in the film era that transitioned to digital makes me feel old. I have boxes and boxes of negatives, and instead of my images living on my computer like they do today I have albums upon albums of images that I snapped in my elementary, middle school & high school years…. I took pictures of ANYTHING & EVERYTHING (just ask any of my friends, they can vouch for that one)!!! Growing up I was the one that would always want to take a photo to remember what we were doing (with dance, band, church, etc, etc…), and my I should have just kept the camera in my book bag at times because I have some horribly bad images of myself and my friends being goofy!!! But I love that I have all these thousands of physical photos to remember that time in my life!!
I can’t tell you when or why I first fell in love with photography but I can trace this love back to either my dad or the fact that we had family photos taken quite often (definitely Olan Mills family portraits…. but I have to give my mom props for documenting our family and doing it quite regularly). I remember on family vacations watching my dad take his camera and going off and taking photos (I always wondered why he crouched a certain way or focused on one object or mountain and not the other, etc.. etc..) and I remember coming home from vacations and being excited when he’d show us the images once they were back from the lab. My dad had a knack at capturing the places we visited so well and making you feel like you were back in that exact location… maybe his love of it made me love it. Let me just say I AM NOT A SCENIC PHOTOGRAPHER & probably never will be… BUT I have been lots of places in the United Sates and have quite a few books that might say I love to photograph scenery, and it’s true (just still doesn’t make a photographer that does that in particular)… I just ove documenting this beautiful land God blessed us with… and I know without a shadow of a doubt that love of photographing this beautiful nation happened on a trip to the Grand Canyon the summer after 5th grade… I remember getting out of the car and walking out to the rim of the canyon and just being in complete awe and reverence of this majestic canyon… a canyon that God created.. for us to enjoy & I remember clicking away and thinking there’s no way these photos will ever do the real thing justice… but I have the pictures that now transport me back to my almost 6th grade self & for that I am so thankful.
So lots of rambling, but long story short… I love photography & being a photographer. I love photographing love & life, I love the relationships photography brings me & the joy of clients when they see their images for the first time… and when that bride tells me “it was like reliving the day all over again”… that, that right there is probably the main reason I love being a photographer. I am able to capture a moment, an hour, a day in time and then let those that I captured be able to relive those moments for the rest of their lives… photography is a passion and a love for me. I know I’m not the most talented photographer out there and I know I’m not the most creative or innovative… but when I have my camera in front of me I know I’m doing what I love to do & God created me to do, and have loved to do for the majority of my life & I know that I’m capturing moments that I can then share with others and bring them joy!! Yep… WITHOUT QUESTION I LOVE BEING A PHOTOGRAPHER!!!
and… Because I can’t post without a photo, I figured I’d share a few images my dear friend Emily snapped back in February at one of my engagement sessions. She was in Texas visiting for the weekend and since I happened to have a session she tagged along & grabbed a few images of me doing what I love!! Thank you Emily for taking these & then sharing them with me!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
I really don’t think I’m funny… like at all… but this photo may tell another story. More than likely I said something just ridiculous or crazy and it just made them laugh, but ohh so happy I am that Emily captured this photo of this couple hopefully laughing we me :)!!!!
I 5’5″ so more than likely I will always have this handy dandy step stool with me at a session to make sure I’m not ALWAYS looking up at someone :)!!
Kendra Martin Photography specializes in Wedding, Senior Portrait, Lifestyle, Newborn, Family, Maternity and Child Photography in Spartanburg, SC & Greenville, SC and the surrounding areas including but not limited to Charlotte, NC and Houston, TX.
