*click here for part 1 (Paradigm Shift) and part 2 (Cemented Paradigm)*

Throughout college, I began to really learn more about how my camera worked, and it opened up so many doors for creativity. I tried new things, failed, figured out why I failed, and tried again.

College was also the start of some epiphany moments, mostly while I was studying abroad in Costa Rica and taking yearly trips to the Dominican Republic. My heart was so entrenched in the lives of the people I met and the places I visited. There were times of laughter and joy, sorrow and tears, times of anger, times of peace. There were sights, sounds, smells, warm tropical breezes, bachata rhythms floating through the air on warm Caribbean nights, drum beats from the street pounding through my very core, aching muscles from tireless physical work, sweaty afternoon siestas. There was something in the core of me that wanted so badly to communicate what it felt like to be there…something I feel even the best writers cannot do with mere words. When I was there, I didn’t just take pictures; I attempted to photograph in a way that would communicate those stories. I wanted to do more than show a visual representation of a place; I wanted the viewer to see an image, and hear sounds, and feel the weather, and smell the smells. I was nowhere near the technical ability I needed, but my heart was in it, and it pushed me to keep trying.

While I was in Costa Rica, I saw a photographer for World Vision speak about what he does. It was the first time I was really exposed to the idea of a photographer working for a non-profit Christian organization. He was a photographer that was doing more than just taking pictures of people to make money. He wasn’t the one literally serving people when World Vision was working in a particular area. But he was using his gifts and his passion to capture the needs of the hurting in a photograph in such a way that moved people to give and support. In his own way, he was helping the hurting by helping World Vision raise the funds they needed in order to send people and supplies to the places and people that needed it.

This was certainly a little nugget for me to chew on..later I’d see that it was an important building block in a new paradigm.

*click here for part 4 (Not What, But Who) and part 5 (Inspired)*

*click here for part 1–Paradigm Shift*

My interest in photography goes back to high school when I got my first SLR camera. I carried that thing everywhere! I felt so cool when I could zoom in and out and had buttons I could play with. I tried a lot of creative things, like attempting to take shots of the moon, a candle surrounded by darkness, or close-ups of flowers. And you can imagine my frustration when I got the roll of film developed and the photos were totally blurry or unfocused. “This isn’t what I pictured in my head!” I didn’t know much about light, technique, or how a camera worked, but there was still something I loved, something that drove me to keep going…something about creating.

At the time, I also loved writing and enjoyed nature, so I put the three together and had this far-off, wild dream of becoming a photojournalist for National Geographic. But, eventually, I questioned myself and my intentions. I had such a passion and desire to truly help people and make a difference in this world. My assumptions about becoming a photographer were that it was something I would do simply because I enjoyed doing it, which seemed selfish to me. I remember thinking to myself, “How could I become a photographer when there are so many people in the world hurting and suffering?” How could I do something that wasn’t serving and helping? So, I chose a different path to walk down.

*click here for part 3 (Building a New Paradigm), part 4 (Not What, But Who), and part 5 (Inspired)*

Hindsight is 20/20. Well, I do believe the fog is beginning to clear around a very transformative time in my life. A transformation that has taken many years…years in which God revealed things to me through various events in my life. People I’ve met, places I’ve been, emotions I’ve experienced. As I experienced them, I didn’t realize the impact they would have on my life. But, looking back, I can see those “epiphany moments” so clearly as they slowly chipped away at a paradigm I was cemented in.

According to dictionary.com (yes, that’s right–I don’t think I have an actual dictionary…or, at least, I don’t know where it is), a paradigm shift is a fundamental change in approach or assumption. So, friends, in hopes of perhaps inspiring or touching one person out there…I’ll share with you the story of my paradigm shift.

*click here for part 2 (Cemented Paradigm), part 3 (Building a New Paradigm), part 4 (Not What, But Who), and part 5 (Inspired)*