last thursday i had the honor of guest speaking at the vernon camera club. (for all you camera enthusiasts ~ check em out! they have a great thing goin on there!) i was floored when i got the email, asking if i would like to give an hour and a half presentation on my love of all things photography, workflow, post-processing and composition…. eekk!!

when i read the email asking if i would be interested, i just sat there in disbelief… they want me!?!? are they sure they know i have only been doing this for just over a year?? i can’t believe they want me!!… my immediate response was to say thank you but no thank you ~ speaking in front of people is definitely outside of my comfort zone, and speaking about photography techniques to other camera enthusiasts is SURELY outside of my comfort zone. i still have so much to learn myself!! ~ and then i had to stop. take a step back and think.

scott has always told me that “magic happens outside of your comfort zone” ….he always says to “do one thing that scares you everyday”… and he is right.

taking a risk to do something outside of that “safe bubble” where everything is secure and predictable is never an easy thing to do. but i replied to the vernon camera club and graciously accepted the offer ~ MY FIRST SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT!! i immediately felt exhilarated, excited and so proud!! I WAS GOING TO SPEAK AT A CAMERA CLUB!!  i guess it is these milestones that keep me thriving for more. it is one of those moments in life that we experience, a moment that reminds us we are following our dreams, and that we are really doing it. after i accepted the opportunity i never looked back. i prepared a slideshow filled with my favorite images, techniques, tips and tricks. and after some serious nerves before leaving my house (i couldn’t eat and was so flustered that i got lost in my own subdivision…. hahah we’re new here! ok!!!? ;)) and then a few technical difficulties once i arrived with hooking my mac computer up to the club’s projector – (i ended up having to do the entire presentation without any of my sidenotes because it wouldn’t connect! as if that didn’t add to the nerves!! 😉 ) it was fantastic! ~ the bottom line is that i enjoyed it. every single minute of it. i never thought in a million years that i would feel so comfortable talking infront of so many people. but i did it! and i would have never realized how much i loved it if i didn’t try! people came up to me after to tell me how much they learned, and it was right then that i realized how rewarding it is to do something that scares you. take a risk. and just do it.

…this is me, right before i walked in and got to check another thing off of my goal-list for 2012!! 😉