Through My Lens: The Artist Behind the Camera

1 day ago
2 min read

Updated: 8 hours ago

This is the first post in my series, "Through My Lens".

People see the finished portrait.

The culled and carefully edited versions.

The soft light.

The soulful eyes.

The stillness.

What they don’t see are the twenty-plus years behind the image. They don’t see the long nights spent studying photography and Photoshop. The books. The practice. The failures.

There were no shortcuts. Only passion and determination.

When someone looks at a finished portrait, they don’t see the love and time poured into it. Yes, the session itself takes time but so do the hours afterward. Sitting at a computer. Carefully culling. Studying expressions. Choosing the strongest reactions. Refining every detail.

The final image may feel effortless.

It isn’t.

Leonardo da Vinci said,

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

That has always stayed with me.

Artists see what could be better. We notice the subtle shifts. The almost-perfect. The tiny details others might miss.

Vincent van Gogh wrote,

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

That is what happens during a session.

The small adjustments.

Multiple shots.

The waiting.

The patience.

The movements.

The panting.

The twirling.

When I photograph a dog, whether my own dogs, client beloved pets or a rescue waiting for a second chance, I’m not just pressing a shutter button. I’m reading the dogs body language and watching to catch the precise tilt of the head, the softness in the eyes, the way the light settles and how shadows shape the dog.

It may look simple.

It isn’t.

Art is practiced. Refined. Earned.

And it has taken years to see the way I see.

The artist behind the camera