The Passion Project

Many photographers who do, or try to make a living with their artistic skills will have a personal project they work on simply for their own gratification. These are often referred to as "Passion Projects".

Bill and I do not make art and photography our full time jobs. We actually have a couple of other jobs (each). We both are campground managers for Park of the Pines, a church own camp and retreat center in Northwest Michigan. This job in a way is also a passion project as we grew up going to summer camp at POP, we met at POP, and now we live and work at POP. We love this place and will work hard to keep it in good order. Bill is also a professional baker. He manages an in-store bakery close by. Bill has been a baker for over thirty years and loves it. I have a second job with our church (Community of Christ) working with youth camp directors for three Community of Christ camps in Michigan, another thing I am very passionate and dedicated to. We are lucky that we have reached a time in our lives where the jobs we are doing feel like they are meaningful and important. 

We love photography and have made time to turn this into a "micro" business for ourselves. We do a couple weddings a year, a few senior high school photo shoots, and the occasional head-shots. We really love to photograph nature and wildlife and sell prints at a local artists co-operative and our online print shop. 

We have an idea! We would like to become the photographers that are known for taking pictures of SENIORS! I mean senior citizens. 

This idea is born out of an experience Bill and I had several years ago. A person Bill went to high school with contacted us to go over to her in-laws house and take some photos of them for their upcoming sixtieth wedding anniversary celebration. We had so much fun spending time with this couple taking their pictures and getting to know them that we thought why not so more of this? 

If you think about it, there are never many pictures taking of a person after they graduate, get married, or have a family. Once they become empty nesters or retirees there aren't many picture taking opportunities. We would like to change that. We would like to make all stages of life a time to celebrate and document. 

So this year we are going to work on a personal "Passion Project" of documenting some of the seniors we know and love. We want to share their stories and hopefully capture their true essence in some beautiful images. Stay tuned, I hope to blog and eventually add a category to our portfolio to showcase this project.