26 Mar Calling All Photography Fans
Today marks the start of a new weekly feature on our page. Taking great photographs while you travel is a wonderful way to share your adventures with family and friends. You also get a permanent reminder of the places you have been and the memories you have made. Magic Vacations has many great photographers on our team. Many of the images you see on our social media platforms and website were taken by our very own MVPs. We have asked Libby Fox to share her art with us every Friday in a new series called Through Libby’s Lens. She will take us on photographic tours of places she has traveled, as well as sites she has found interesting in her everyday life. To start us off, let’s allow her to introduce herself to our readers and enjoy some cool self-portraits she has taken.
For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed taking pictures, but I have never really thought of myself as a photographer. One of my earliest memories involving a camera was probably in the third or fourth grade when I had begged my parents to buy me a bright purple and yellow LeClic camera for Christmas (hey…it was the 80s). I wanted this camera so badly that I remember making my best friend stand watch one afternoon so I could carefully unwrap and rewrap a camera sized box from under the tree just to confirm whether or not I needed to practice how to conceal my disappointment before Christmas morning. Thankfully, my parents came through and thus began the obsession.
This obsession really started to grow in the fall of 2003. Before embarking on a cross-country move to New York City from my home state of Idaho, a friend bestowed upon me an inexpensive, used, 2.0 megapixel digital camera. She had recently upgraded to a better camera and passed along her old one to me. It was my very first digital camera. I was so excited to be able to take as many pictures as I wanted without having to wait for them to be developed before I could see them. When I got to NYC, I used photography as a means of forcing me out of the comfort zone of my apartment and into the wilds of this new city I got to call home. I used the camera as an excuse to explore my new city taking pictures to send back home to friends and family. A practice I still continue to do, over seventeen years later. Exploring the city, my camera in hand (or these days, mostly with my phone in hand) has made me stop and take the time to pay attention to the small moments of beauty that can often be overlooked in the rush of day-to-day living. Having New York City as such a beautiful palette to practice with all these years has allowed me to hone my skills and given me a creative outlet that I have come to treasure. And if my photos give a little bit of joy to others in the process, then that just makes it sweeter.
So, I hope you’ll enjoy looking through my lens with me as I try to capture some of the magic of my travels. Whether you’re staying close to home, or wandering the globe, there’s always something interesting to see if you just take the time to look.
