Behind the Lens

My first official photoshoot as Walk By Faith Photography, at that time I was K Tragic Photography, was at dawn on September 4, 2010. I remember thinking that I was having fun and maybe I was good at taking pictures too. Because that’s what a photographer is to you isn’t it? Someone who just takes pictures.

That’s what I thought for a while. I’ll get into exactly what I believe a photographer is and what my personal vision is a little bit later. For right now, I want to tell you exactly how this whole thing came about.

First shoot ever!

 So, I had this photoshoot with my cousin, Mesha. We had a great time and the pictures weren’t that bad. Not for my first shot at this new hobby. I posted the pictures on Facebook and received amazing feedback. My friends started asking for photoshoots, then people older than me, then strangers. For the first time in my life, I really felt like I was good at something.

As the clients started rolling in, I realized a few things. One, I was given this talent to give glory to God-hints the name change. Two, photographers do so much more than push a button. Three, I should really charge for this.

Anyways. I did sessions with my friends. At 15, I was asked to do a wedding. Oh my. I was far passed nervous. I was going to the wedding of someone I didn’t know. I had one shot to get this right. I survived, obviously. But, I told myself I was never getting myself into a situation like that until I was confident I could deliver the very best imaged I could.

Since then I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know many different people!  I’ve been so blessed to figure out who I am through photography. Which brings me to the subject of what I really think a photographer is. An iPhone and Instagram doesn’t make you a photographer. In my opinion, the absolute best part of being a photographer is capturing the little moments. Nothing  is as big of a reward as proofing a session and getting the perfect shimmer in someone’s eyes, catching laughter, or freezing an unspoken conversation between two people. My goal as a photographer is to present my clients with the little things.

Since I've begun this journey, I have had the opportunity to have family, senior, engagement, and maternity sessions!

The feedback and support I have received has been overwhelming and means more to me than anyone could ever image. For those of you who have kept up with my work and encouraged me, thank you so so much! I don’t know how I could repay you. For those of you whom had no idea I was a part time photographer, check me out! 

How MTV Changed My Life.

I Used to Be Fat. Ever seen it? It’s an MTV Documentary about overweight teenagers than are about to embark on their freshman year of college and wants to change their life before leaving home.

The show fits into the category with The Biggest Loser, Heavy, and Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.

Anyways. I watched the show religiously. Most of the individuals on the show were much heavier than I was. One day, a girl was on the show that weight about 20 pounds less than me. And I thought she was huge. That day was like a slap in the face. I was no longer sitting there saying, if I ever get that big I’ll change. Suddenly I was that big. Suddenly I had no choice but to put on my big girl panties, evaluate the life I lived, and compare it to the life I want to live.

75 lbs ago, that life was distant and unattainable. Or so I thought. But I began working out anyways (thanks to Life P.E. that I was forced to take). Every step I took, every drop of sweat that rolled down my face, every winded workout, and every time I wanted to quit made that distant tiny life I longed for closer and more desirable.

Deeper and deeper into my journey, I realized this (among many things)-If you are bored, your body is bored. What’s more fun, forcing yourself to do a workout or having a random dance party with some friends? Going for a run or placing Just Dance? That was a rhetorical question.

I think the key to becoming a more physically and mentally fit person is friendships. Working out in a group gives you motivation, fun, and time to become a better you and a better y’all. Friends that share a common interest, beliefs, or goal will push each other until they become the person they want to be.

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” –Proverbs 27:17

When I came to conclusion, New Life Baptist Zumba/Tae Bo fell into my lap. We didn’t do it very long because baseball season started and everybody got really busy. While it was going on, we got together, worked out, talk, and just hung out together. Everybody had a great time and personally I’m hoping we can start back when school resumes and everyone is on a schedule again.

There’s a moral to this story, I swear. Here’s the challenge for this week. Grab a friend and hit the walking track. It’s really easy. A friend, a bottle of water, and a track. That’s all it takes. Devote an hour of your time, 2-3 times this week, to fitness and friendships.

And I know how you kids like before and after picture, or at least I know how much I life them. So, here ya go!

Yeah. We were those girls. The ones who took pictures
in a restroom. And seeing this picture now, that's where
I should have stayed.

Jr Prom. Meagan, LeyAnne, and me before chowing
down at Stix.
(that dress was an 8!)

When a Mended Spirit and a Broken Heart Collides.

Remember when I said periodically I would blog about something outside of the realm of fitness. Here’s to something outside of that world. Here’s to something outside of the world in general. Here’s to the someone that holds the world.

I have the same testimony as almost everyone I know. I was saved at a very young age, I mean, we live in the Bible Belt, it’s a sin not to be washed by the water before you hit double digits, right?

Here’s what being ‘saved’ has become. “When I was seven years old, I went to Vacation Bible School for a week and at the end of the week I said this prayer with the preacher and he told me I was saved and I would go to Heaven one day. Now I catch up with him on Easter and around Christmas time.” Now am I saying that if you got saved at VBS when you were a kid that means nothing, absolutely not! I went to VBS as a child and that played a HUGE role in my salvation. But I didn’t understand much about salvation or my faith until years later.

 Most teenagers are classified as young and dumb. Fortunately, I kind of bypassed that stage (to an extent; I sin just like the next guy and I’ve been my fair share of stupid). I didn’t exactly realize what the whole “following Jesus” thing was really about until I was a teenager. I’ve learned more since I was a sophomore until now than I did from the time I was saved until then.

“How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” –Galations 3:3

When I understood what exactly a Christian was and what their God given responsibilities are, that’s when my spirit was mended. I wasn’t aware of how incomplete I was before that time. I didn’t realize how much weight was on my shoulders, until it was no longer there.

“At one time we were too foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.” –Titus 3:3-5

Like I mentioned earlier, I am being raised in the Bible Belt; which to me is a blessing and a curse. The blessing comes in the fact that we don’t have to drive an hour to the closest church and everyone goes to church. The curse is this- many people have not truly experienced the love of God and the legitimate change that comes after experiencing such a love as His. For the people that haven’t experienced it, yet claim Christianity, it sends a message. The message being, I can go out and drink like a fish as long as I go to church on Sunday, I’ll be fine. Living in the Bible Belt has made things very gray for most people. It has labeled some sins being worse than others. Being raised here is a dangerous thing because of the social norm. Children learn from example. How will the generations younger than us know that what we are doing, how we are living, is wrong?

Unless, by God’s grace, there is a change,  a revelation, a grand realization that what we are doing and what we are claiming cannot coexist, they will continue the pattern we started.

By now I assume I have lost some readers. That’s okay with me. Here comes the broken hearted part of the story.

I’ve already written that I wasn’t aware what I was getting into when I accepted Jesus as a child. And I’ve also mentioned about learning as I have gotten older. I’ve learned by example of my peers and the generations ahead of me. I’ve learned how my life shouldn’t be lived. I’ve never wanted to be the kid that goes out on the weekend and do only God knows what with only God knows who. I’ve never wanted to be the good kid except I do such-and-such. But I’ve been taught that living that way is okay. I’m tired of that being okay. I’m tired of that kind of lifestyle being pursued by our youth out of boredom, peer pressure, or any other explanation someone wants to throw out there.

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone sins. Everyone has the same opportunity to be forgiven, pick up our cross, and live out the life we have been created for. I believe the generations before us have failed us. And unless a miracle happens, the pattern will continue and we will fail the world instead of change it.

Lately my heart has been so heavy. I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that something is not right. Slowly, I’ve begun to put the pieces together. Recently, I was given the statistic that 4% of the world’s population under the age of 18 fully accept and cling to the love and grace God has shown them and live their life in a way that shows that have been touched by the Holy Spirit. I am in complete agreement with the statement. Think about your friends, coworkers, family, and peers. Think about what they say versus their actions. You may agree with the statistic now, too. Anyways. I’ve prayed “God break my heart for what breaks yours” many times. And it is happening. When I go to school, or church, or even the gas station, my heart breaks. When I get on Facebook or Twitter my heart breaks.

So what happens when a mended spirit and a broken heart collide?

Change.

Being completely aware about what was actually done for us two thousand years ago on a tree and accepting that we are nothing and we were put on this planet for a purpose (not a self-fulfilling purpose) is where many of us are failing. Everyone knows Jesus died on a cross for our sins and rose three days later. But hearing something all the time from the time we were born loses its meaning- remember the Bible Belt curse I talked about, yeah, it applies here too. We have head knowledge of that. When we gain heart knowledge of that, our spirit mends by the entering of the Holy Spirit into our lives. Digging in our Bible ourselves for what God ordains right and wrong, that’s where the broken heart comes from.

“Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right.”- 1 Peter 2:24

Do you think God is happy with our name it and claim, me me me, all rewards and no sacrifice society we have been born into and have contributed to? No. Do you think He is ready to shake us and yell “wake up, time is running out!” right in our faces? You bet. Do you think He is content with us putting Him in a box and only getting Him out on Sundays and when we go visit Maw Maw? Absolutely not. Does he long for us to stop dead in our tracks, turn around, admit He’s right, and jump into His arms? More than anything. Are His arms open and waiting for us to take that step toward Him? They have been our whole lives.

“I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.” –Jeremiah 31:34

What are we waiting on? Why aren’t we what we were called to be? Why are we taking part in the games of a dying world when we could be the generation that is the pebble that will one day be a wave?

My answer? Claims of a mended spirit without the blessing of a broken heart.

This is the Mission Jamaica team from my church. They all have mended spirits and broken heart. They did the Lord's work in Jamaica and are a blessing to our church. They are an awesome group of folks!

If you agree, share this blog. The more people to read it, the better!

The Fight to Fitness

Have you ever heard the saying, change doesn’t come overnight? Or how about, champions aren’t made in a day? True. And true.

Almost two years ago, sophomore year, I took Life P.E. with Mrs. Kecia Alston. I was absolutely dreading it. When we first entered the class, we had to weigh. Of course when I’m uncomfortable, I tried to get out of weighing with a joke. “Mrs. Kecia, I don’t know you that well yet.” She laughed and proceeded to make me step up on the scale. That was the ‘oh snap’ moment everyone has when they realize their weight, and more importantly, their health has gotten out of control.

In Life P.E. we ran two days a week (Couch Potato to 5k), did pilates, played volleyball, badminton, and other group sports. The first month of the class, I lost ten pounds without changing anything outside of doing what was required of me to pass P.E. Ten pounds was a small grain of sand in comparison to what it would take for me to be comfortable at a beach.   

In January, after completing the course (halleluiah!), I decided to give this whole “diet and exercise” deal a go. I quit soft drinks cold turkey and took up walking.

That was my beginning. My slow beginning. My tough beginning.

But it got easier. I realize now that “skinny” should not be the goal; healthy should be the goal. Now I feel like a champion.

You WILL be a Champion!

So here’s a challenge for anyone want to become a healthier, better you. This week replace one soft drink a day with a bottle of water. Or if you’re feeling up to it, lay off soft drinks for a week. It won’t make an immediate impact on the scale, but you will feel better.

You got this! Stay positive!

(I’ll tell my story in segments. More to come later.)

I am me because of who I was.

I'm still a kid, and I intend to be for a long time. I'm new to this whole "blogging" fad, obviously. I believe in being the servant, instead of the served. If you can carry on a legitimate conversation, you're already about twelve times better than the people I know. I follow a loving and forgiving risen Savior. If you have an interest in fitness, sports, music, or photography; I'm pretty sure we can be friends.

I don't have a clear picture of what my blog is going to be all about. Yet. I know my weight loss journey will be a factor. I'm not one to put my weight out there, but I currently weigh 145 lbs. I started 75 lbs heavier. If I wasn't typing, my fingers would be crossed that anyone reading this is terrible at math.

This was me. I'm the one front and center. The one in stripes.

The convict. And that's how I felt. I was trapped inside my own

body. I lived a life of self-hate and fake smiles. If it sounds like

you, keep up with my blog. I want to change that. I want to inspire.

You ARE beautiful.

.This is me now. About a year and a half and 75 lbs later, I

attended Jr. prom with one of my best dude friends, Zach.

Anyone who has ever been to prom knows it's the lamest thing

ever, but putting on that dress made me realize something,

I am superwoman. I am more than what I give myself credit for.