Blog Challenge #3: A Tutorial Post - Stumped

Well today's challenge has got me stumped I am supposed to come up with some kind of a tutorial to tell you. I probably thought of a million different things to post about but none of them seemed right. This made me a little sad because I really wanted to make this blog challenge work. Right now though I'm just not a tutorial kind of person.

People may think different and maybe one day I will think of something or someone will ask me a question that turns into a blog post, but today, only having a half a days notice, I just couldn't think of anything. Each blog that I write takes me at least 3 hours of writing time and a lot more thinking time. So I'll just have to take the hit for today's challenge and let you all know that I am an open book and if you have any questions that you think I might have the answer to please ask and I will answer it! :)

Until the next challenge I will leave you with one of my favorite pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge! :)

Blog challenge #2: A Passionate Post

Q: What’s the story behind why you do what you do?

My story is one that includes MANY different AMAZING people who might not be mentioned in this particular post but you know who you are and how much I love you for your love and support, even if we have lost touch! I love you all!

Okay, here it goes...

I like to think that my photography passion started when I was really little. I remember being gifted a purple and pink plastic camera when I was little ... at least I'm pretty sure it was a gift!? You see I come from a family of nine and I'm the middle child so if you are from a big family you might understand that at times things you might think are yours might not really be yours ... Haha, either way I remember loving it!!

I cant 'find a picture of me with the camera so I'll put a picture up of about how old I was when I got it!? :)

Fast forward to when I was in my early teens, my sister found, or was given, our dads old Canon film SLR. I thought it was so cool but knew nothing about how a real SLR camera worked. So I watched as my sister created and developed amazing things!! She would enter her photos to the fair and got first prize for one of them! She has always had a very artistic eye!

This is photo that my sister snapped of our adorable little niece a while back to give you a small example of how amazing she is! :)

As we grew up I watched and followed my sister so I could learn from her! At that time, my camera was a little Nikon point-and-shoot that my parents got me!! :) It was a way for me to be creative and artistic. I really felt like every picture I took said something about me and about the subject.

After high school I was working on getting into college and had an amazing job that gave me a little more experience with cameras, the only down side was that I took pictures of teeth ... haha sounds weird but it was for a cosmetic dentist. I found out that one of my friends was and still is a photographer, she is also my sisters best friend, her name is Sabrina. We ended up hanging out and talked about photography a lot! I like to think that she is why I finally pushed myself to buy my first Canon SLR, it was the Canon 40D. Sabrina taught me a lot about cameras and taking photos. She has always been a good friend. She took my wedding photos and still takes photos for my family!! :)

Here is one of my wedding photos from Saint Laurent Photography!! :)

Eventually life took me to Utah, where I really started to grow and gain experience. I let people know that if they needed photos of their family that I was available! I will never forget the people who said yes and let me take their photos!!! They really pushed me and helped me to step out in the direction I wanted to go!

I will always remember how much I loved being behind the camera, taking charge and interacting with different kinds of people. I really felt like I had control of something that made myself and others happy!!

Here are the two families that were amazing enough to let me take their photos! :)

- These are my very beginnings, talk about a blast from the past! -

I continued taking photos of many other people to gain experience but never had the guts to call myself a professional, until I met my husband!! He saw that I had a true passion for photography and that I was holding myself back because I was afraid that people might not like what I have to share. He let me know that I needed to stop being afraid, that it was time to make this into something more and that I had waited long enough. So I started my Facebook photography page after we got married branded myself as Naomi Bills Photography and started sharing a piece of myself with you all.

I am so glad my husband did this because once I followed his advice I was able to grow 100 times more than when I was "hiding" my work!!!!

Here are 2 different banners that show what I think is a huge change over the 3 years of being married and of being more public with my photography.

Photography is NOT about the money or a job, it is a way for me to tell a story, not just your story but mine as well! Every photo I have ever taken has a piece of me in it! It's my life, my love and my passion.

So that's the story of why I do what I do!