This post will be a little different…
As some of you know I’m originally from Germany. I’ve moved to the USA in 2003. I’ve received a job offer and decided to take it. So I packed my two suitcases and moved to Utah. Before I came to Utah I’ve never even heard of Utah, but I’ve been blessed enough to be able to visit America several times beforehand.
I’ve always loved visiting and seeing all the different National Parks. America is very different from Germany in many ways. And if you look at Utah specifically it’s culturally really different. I’ve had to adjust big time. I’ve struggled with the differences several times but I do love it here. I think being from a different country you see both countries in a different view. There are good and bad things in both countries. I don’t think there is any country that is absolutely perfect but you can make it perfect for you… When I first moved here it was supposed to be only for 18 month and then I would go back to Germany. Well, as you all know, plans usually change…
I started out working as an Intern at a Freight Forwarding Company and since the company allowed us to use the company car for road trips, my first roommate and I went on a road trip almost every weekend. My roommate had never been to the US so seeing as many National Parks as we could was a must. Now here is one of the differences between Germany and America… In Germany you get a minimum of 25 days of vacation per year (not including the unlimited sick days nor the 1-2 years of maternity leave)… We didn’t have that kind of luxury at the company here so we made the best of it and went on weekend trips… We left Friday’s right after work and came back late Sunday nights… We’ve slept plenty of times in the car (we’ve learned after the first few uncomfortable nights to be a little more prepared by bringing pillows and blankets with us 🙂 ) and we saw a ton… (Sorry Melanie for rarely bringing hiking boots with me and always running around in high heels… 🙂 Yes, I’m not very practical but I can hike in high heels like you wouldn’t believe it!! 🙂 ) But I digress… As I said, I’ve been blessed to have come to the USA before and visited several of the National Parks around here. In my family, my dad was the one working and my mom was a stay at home mom. And contrary to some people’s belief, “stay at home mom” is a full time job, too! Taking care of us 4 kids ( I have one brother and two sisters) and the house was not an easy job, I can tell you that… (Sorry mom!! Love you 🙂 ) Anyway, my dad was working his butt off so that my siblings and I could have the best life anyone could dream off (sorry dad that I wasn’t very appreciative at times… love you, too!! :)). My mom took us on vacations that others could only dream off. We went all over Europe, America and Canada. And I loved every single second of it. In addition, I went to Australia as an exchange student. Amazing country and wonderful folks! 🙂
I’ve always loved to travel and still try to travel as much as I can… I know I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been at so many places in this world and I know not everyone has the opportunity to do so… This brings me to the original reason of this post… 🙂 I’ve always loved photography and started getting more into it when I started going to all the National Parks around here. The reasoning back then was to have pictures to show to my family and friends. Some of my friends weren’t too happy that I moved over here so I wanted to show them why I wanted to be here… Now I still take pictures to document all the beautiful places but not just for my family and friends in Germany but for everyone that would like to see these amazing places themselves and maybe just need some inspiration or motivation or they just want to follow me on my trips through my pictures. 🙂
I’m still going on weekend trips now with my amazing friend Kristen (who I’ve met at the freight forwarding company, too… She was my anchor and lifesaver in many ways… 🙂 Thank you Kristen!!! I love you). Kristen is an extremely talented photographer herself and I’m blessed that she is willing to help me learn and that she is always up for another road trip. (Can’t wait to go to Moab this weekend!!)
Now, I’m not only taking landscape pictures, even though I love to take them, but I also do any type of Portraits. I’ve just started with taking Portraits but I love capturing them. I want to help people capture their life in pictures for the future generation to see. Since I’ve moved here by myself I’ve been only able to stay updated with my friends through phone calls and pictures. And every time I get pictures from them and their families I’m super excited. It’s so nice to see pictures of their children and how much they have grown since I’ve last seen them… I don’t get to go back too often so pictures are such a great way to stay up to date on what’ s going on in their life… I want to provide this to my clients. I want to provide them with memories…
Furthermore, I went through some old pictures of my childhood today and there were so many memories that came back with every picture that I’ve looked at it made me feel nostalgic. Unfortunately a lot of the pictures are blurry or scratched (scanned 35mm pictures) and I wish I would have the original prints or a better copy of them to hang them up on my wall to remember… It’s great to see images to connect with all the stories I remember… 🙂
These are just some of the reasons why I am a photographer. I hope you enjoyed this super long post,
Have a wonderful day,
HB1Photography
