Mary McGuire Photography: Having the Confidence

Early last year I started on a personal journey to rediscover what really inspired me. My husband calls it my "Renaissance." I painted large format paintings with acrylics. I started journaling. Then I discovered journaling with art. This then blossomed into mixed media pieces and photography. I really enjoyed getting my hands messy with paint and the creative process of layering with mixed media. BUT...I LOVED taking pictures. I always have. Photography creates this glow inside of me. And when I see how others react to my photography...well, that's just icing!

A Bucket List item for many women (especially unsure moms wanting to take better pictures) is Me Ra Koh's Confidence Workshop. I had been following her blog and wistfully hoped someday I could find my way to a conference. I even bought a Sony a33 because of Me Ra's story about Sony and it's connection with women photographers.

Last November I'm sitting upstairs one evening and I see that a new location had been added!! I couldn't believe it! I let out an "eeeehhaahhh". My husband asked "what"? I yelled down, "Me Ra's coming to Florida!!!"

Two minutes later, he's standing next to me with his debit card and says, "Happy Anniversary, Merry Christmas & Valentines' Day. Do you think we could get Mother's Day & your birthday, too?"

It was amazing and a TOTAL game changer for me! I went wanting to get more confidence with my camera, and was hopeful I'd find inspiration and have more confidence in myself. When I left those 3 days behind, I got all that and SO MUCH more.

I had in front of me a completely different perspective of what I thought I could do with my love of photography. I saw so many possibilities. And what I had was a support network of 20 other female photographers of varying stages of their photography and their lives. Most of whom are still very connected and supportive on a private Facebook group. My roommate for the Conference was local to me and turned out to be a friend of a friend of mine. We've promised to keep that relationship going too.

Me Ra, along with her husband Brian, and of course my own husband, were the catalysts for me seeing a path for myself and having the confidence to turn my love of photography into something MUCH bigger.