Reigniting that Love

Have you ever had a hobby that slowly turned into work - and with that shift, you somehow lost the love that started it all? That’s where I found myself with photography.

Don’t get me wrong - I still love capturing memories for other people. There’s something beautiful about freezing time for someone else. But somewhere along the way, I stopped doing it for me. I couldn’t even remember the last time I picked up my camera simply because something around me felt worth noticing.

Until last week.

We spent the day in the city - one of my favorite places to be - for the Fine Arts in Chicago parade. With a few hours to spare before the festivities began, I grabbed my Canon and wandered. No agenda. No client. No checklist. Just the rhythm of the city and the pull of whatever caught my eye. My beautiful daughter even modeled for a few.

Textures, reflections, light - they all felt new again. I wasn’t chasing the perfect shot; I was simply noticing beauty again.

By the time we left the city that night, something in me had shifted. Those few hours reminded me why I fell in love with photography in the first place. And for the first time in a long time, I felt full again.

Perhaps one of my favorite moments of all was seeing my daughter ask to use my camera - and taking some photos of her own. She is creative and artistic and beautiful and kind, and I can't wait to see what she does with all of that in her future.

Here are just a few of my photos from our adventure!