making "negative" a positive
Donation protected
It has been said that we must take the negative moments of our lives and develop from them. My name is Kara. I am a single stay at home mother of two beautiful children who captured my heart far before any photograph was ever processed. I have four stars tattooed on my foot in effort to keep my head on the ground (it's all about perspective, right?) If I have a love for any one material object it would be my camera...I love my camera!
My camera is my most prized possession. I do not value my camera for its price tag or pizzazz. In fact, it means a whole lot more to me than that. As a struggling artist who relies on food stamps to feed my family, my camera is the only tool that I can use to show the world how beautiful people are. My camera allows me to capture things that are invisible to the eye. Things like love, splendor, and excitement...
June 20th, 2015 was such an exciting day for me. Exciting and personal for so many reasons but mostly because I was going to have the pleasure of capturing my first bride of the year. Back and forth I was over what to wear. Should I put on the new shirt, or the old shirt which matched the bridesmaids? After much over thought I put on the new shirt. I couldn't bear the thought of wasting money.
Everything was in order, At least, what I call order. You see, My Camera bag is like a painter’s pallet; Colorful with an assortment of pieced-together equipment. A Canon 7D full body camera, Canon Rebel for backup, 70-200mm 1.4 ultrasonic, 50mm 2.8 and my standard wide angle lens...along with a few other necessities like my external 430exii flash, extra batteries and memory cards.
Off I go, expected to arrive at the wedding ahead of schedule! Pit-Putting along in my (also) colorfully-pieced-together Volkswagen Jetta. A half mile down the road I extended my arm behind me to reach for my camera. When my reach was met without resistance, I reached again, and again, and again. Now, this had to be a joke. Where was my camera bag?
This bag didn't contain a certain single object. This wasn't a material problem - This was a matter of livelihood. THIS BAG CONTAINED MY WHOLE LIFE! This bag is my only source of income. My reason for everything good that I believed in and people who believe in me. The clients who have signed contracts, booked appointments, called me months in advance to honor me with the title of "photographer".
Without my tools, how was I going to photograph this wedding? There was NO way that my camera could be gone…
After buckets of tears, panic and desperate walks around the perimeter of my house I pulled myself together. I called the police. After being labeled a "crisis" by the responding officer, a report was written for “stolen property”. She informed me that without serial numbers or renters insurance there was a low probability of my camera being returned unless someone turned it in.
A trip to the closest department store was in the making; I had the realization that this crisis wasn't about me anymore. It didn’t matter that my camera was stolen from my driveway, It wasn't about what I had lost, or what was taken from me, or how I was going to resume everything that I had built - This was about my Bride! This was the HAPPIEST day of HER life I needed a camera!
As if that strike wasn’t devastating enough, my knowledge as a photographer seemed to bring on more pain and panic when I realized that no amount of money was going to put a functional camera in my hands. No matter how much money I spent on a professional DSLR camera a DSLR camera is not going to have a charged battery! I had to photograph this wedding. So, I did the only thing that I could do, I went on to take pictures.
When I arrived, there she was...The bride, beautiful as ever- Perfectly placing makeup on her porcelain face. With the help of an already-been-told bridesmaid I reassured her that photography is all about "vision" and that I began my portfolio with a point-and-shoot camera that I held together with scotch tape. I reassured her that I would render a complete album no matter what tool I was using. Her forgiveness was unspoken as she ever-so-willingly continued with her makeup. It was as if I wasn't standing over her trying to get a perfect shot with a handheld camera I which I had just purchased at Wal-Mart.
With an eager attitude the ceremony began. My happy Bride saying her vows as I snapped pictures with my new tool. Suddenly I felt a presence nearby. I glanced over my shoulder and to my surprise; a woman wearing a blue dress (and a huge smile) was looking at me.
"Aw!" I said instinctively staring at her professional-looking lens "You have my lens!"
'You're the photographer?' She whispered quietly.
"Yes! And my stuff was stolen earlier today..."
In one quick motion she grabbed the neck strap, released it from her body and handed me her equipment.
'Here!' she whispered 'You can use this!'
…And I did, with a bride who said, at the end of her night “Kara, you are awesome! Not only were you my photographer today, but I swear, one of the only reasons why I stayed sane tonight!”
My equipment being stolen from me was a chaotic, disorderly and downright awful thing to have happened to me. I have lost sleep wondering how I am going to pay for things and gathered with family and friends in my faith. I'm going to choose to believe that “chaos is the law of nature, but order is the dream of man”.
No matter how awful this situation may seem, I have to believe in the goodness of that women handing me her camera, The goodness of a business which grew so much, The goodness of the endless clients who tell me my work leaves them in tears; I have to believe in those things. I have to turn this "negative" into a positive - The part of the job where the photographer makes the image come to life.
Please help me replace my camera equipment! Your donation will help me restore color in the world by painting dreams with the art of photography. Any dollar amount would be amazing!
For more information about me, please feel free to view my website (which I have designed myself) by clicking here! Or, Google search Kara Lynn Bird for endless possibilites and inspiration!
Thank you all for your continued love and support. Your encouragement means the world to me and serves as an abundance of hope in this seemingly desperate time of need.
<3
My camera is my most prized possession. I do not value my camera for its price tag or pizzazz. In fact, it means a whole lot more to me than that. As a struggling artist who relies on food stamps to feed my family, my camera is the only tool that I can use to show the world how beautiful people are. My camera allows me to capture things that are invisible to the eye. Things like love, splendor, and excitement...
June 20th, 2015 was such an exciting day for me. Exciting and personal for so many reasons but mostly because I was going to have the pleasure of capturing my first bride of the year. Back and forth I was over what to wear. Should I put on the new shirt, or the old shirt which matched the bridesmaids? After much over thought I put on the new shirt. I couldn't bear the thought of wasting money.
Everything was in order, At least, what I call order. You see, My Camera bag is like a painter’s pallet; Colorful with an assortment of pieced-together equipment. A Canon 7D full body camera, Canon Rebel for backup, 70-200mm 1.4 ultrasonic, 50mm 2.8 and my standard wide angle lens...along with a few other necessities like my external 430exii flash, extra batteries and memory cards.
Off I go, expected to arrive at the wedding ahead of schedule! Pit-Putting along in my (also) colorfully-pieced-together Volkswagen Jetta. A half mile down the road I extended my arm behind me to reach for my camera. When my reach was met without resistance, I reached again, and again, and again. Now, this had to be a joke. Where was my camera bag?
This bag didn't contain a certain single object. This wasn't a material problem - This was a matter of livelihood. THIS BAG CONTAINED MY WHOLE LIFE! This bag is my only source of income. My reason for everything good that I believed in and people who believe in me. The clients who have signed contracts, booked appointments, called me months in advance to honor me with the title of "photographer".
Without my tools, how was I going to photograph this wedding? There was NO way that my camera could be gone…
After buckets of tears, panic and desperate walks around the perimeter of my house I pulled myself together. I called the police. After being labeled a "crisis" by the responding officer, a report was written for “stolen property”. She informed me that without serial numbers or renters insurance there was a low probability of my camera being returned unless someone turned it in.
A trip to the closest department store was in the making; I had the realization that this crisis wasn't about me anymore. It didn’t matter that my camera was stolen from my driveway, It wasn't about what I had lost, or what was taken from me, or how I was going to resume everything that I had built - This was about my Bride! This was the HAPPIEST day of HER life I needed a camera!
As if that strike wasn’t devastating enough, my knowledge as a photographer seemed to bring on more pain and panic when I realized that no amount of money was going to put a functional camera in my hands. No matter how much money I spent on a professional DSLR camera a DSLR camera is not going to have a charged battery! I had to photograph this wedding. So, I did the only thing that I could do, I went on to take pictures.
When I arrived, there she was...The bride, beautiful as ever- Perfectly placing makeup on her porcelain face. With the help of an already-been-told bridesmaid I reassured her that photography is all about "vision" and that I began my portfolio with a point-and-shoot camera that I held together with scotch tape. I reassured her that I would render a complete album no matter what tool I was using. Her forgiveness was unspoken as she ever-so-willingly continued with her makeup. It was as if I wasn't standing over her trying to get a perfect shot with a handheld camera I which I had just purchased at Wal-Mart.
With an eager attitude the ceremony began. My happy Bride saying her vows as I snapped pictures with my new tool. Suddenly I felt a presence nearby. I glanced over my shoulder and to my surprise; a woman wearing a blue dress (and a huge smile) was looking at me.
"Aw!" I said instinctively staring at her professional-looking lens "You have my lens!"
'You're the photographer?' She whispered quietly.
"Yes! And my stuff was stolen earlier today..."
In one quick motion she grabbed the neck strap, released it from her body and handed me her equipment.
'Here!' she whispered 'You can use this!'
…And I did, with a bride who said, at the end of her night “Kara, you are awesome! Not only were you my photographer today, but I swear, one of the only reasons why I stayed sane tonight!”
My equipment being stolen from me was a chaotic, disorderly and downright awful thing to have happened to me. I have lost sleep wondering how I am going to pay for things and gathered with family and friends in my faith. I'm going to choose to believe that “chaos is the law of nature, but order is the dream of man”.
No matter how awful this situation may seem, I have to believe in the goodness of that women handing me her camera, The goodness of a business which grew so much, The goodness of the endless clients who tell me my work leaves them in tears; I have to believe in those things. I have to turn this "negative" into a positive - The part of the job where the photographer makes the image come to life.
Please help me replace my camera equipment! Your donation will help me restore color in the world by painting dreams with the art of photography. Any dollar amount would be amazing!
For more information about me, please feel free to view my website (which I have designed myself) by clicking here! Or, Google search Kara Lynn Bird for endless possibilites and inspiration!
Thank you all for your continued love and support. Your encouragement means the world to me and serves as an abundance of hope in this seemingly desperate time of need.
<3
Organizer
Kara Lynn Bird
Organizer
Spencer, MA
