I finally have a blog

Yes, I caved in. I listened to the thousands of people out there who are addicted to blogging and I gave it. I decided it was about time I started a blog for myself. I doubt it will be very popular, but it is mine none the less.

As a way of introduction I am Tawny Campbell. I am a wife of a US Soldier, I am a mom of two beautiful girls - Ceilidha (5) and Rhynli (11 weeks). I have been living in Germany for 3+ years and love every minute of it. I am an aspiring photographer who has been aspiring for more than 10 years. I love to read, find great deals online and serve. I run three charities that help deployed, deploying and injured service men and women (http://www.projectportrait.homestead.com/, http://www.operationangel.homestead.com/ and http://www.projectrudolph.homestead.com/). I love traveling around Europe and still have a few places on my dream list to go before I can leave.

As for my photography, I got my first camera as a graduation present in 1997. My parents picked it up from a pawn shop. It was an OM-1 and one of my prized posessions. I got a job as a reporter for a local paper in Southern Idaho right out of high school and started to learn the finer points of photography from our staff photographer, Laurie. After a year or so at the South Idaho Press I move to the Provo Daily Herald where I was a reporter and editor for a couple more years. I loved the photography side of things and spent hours in the photographers room looking at photos and trying to learn from them. From there I took an editors job at the Coeur d'Alene Press and shot some of my own work. This is where I started to learn more about digital photography. After a 2 year break from newspaper work and one daughter later I found myself doing freelance work in Fort Sam Houston, TX and found a huge love photographing Soldiers in training. This is also where I started branching out into portraits. Our next duty station was Fort Benning, GA. I got a job with the post newspaper, The Bayonet, and this is where my photography really took off. I started taking many of the photos in the paper and my love of photographing soldiers grew and grew. I learned a lot about photography and digital cameras from a WWII vet and photographer, Charley Butler and from other fellow photographers. I wasx also introduced to some amazing digital equipment. I bought my first digital camera in 2005 - a Canon 20D. This is also where I started doing family portraits.

We moved to Germany in Jan '06 and I continued to do portraits, creating my own studio and playing more with artificial/studio lights. I still prefer natural light, but with only a few hours of sun during the winter I had to learn a bit about studio lighting. I also started my Project Portrait charity here and began taking photos of infants at LRMC.

So here we are now, 12 years after I got my first camera. I still have my Canon 20D, and I have upgraded to a Canon D1 Mark II with several L-series lenses. I have a small studio and have done more and more portraits. I miss the event and training photography though. I do photograph events once in a while, but it isn't the same. There is something thrilling about photographing an event and seeing that photo published in a newspaper, where you can share the emotions, adrenaline, anxiety, joy, ect. with hundreds of readers.

So in a nutshell that is me.

I am now in Germany trying my best to get better at what I do. I am now enrolled in the New York Institute of Photography so I can hone my skills and I continue to take photos through Project Portrait and do portrait sessions for anyone who wants me.