Over the past summer I applied to become a Lensbaby Ambassador. I never thought that I would be accepted but I wanted to apply because I have a lot of respect for the company and thought it would be fun to apply. When I found out that I had been accepted, it took a few days to sink in. I had to keep coming back to re-read the email.

I started taking photographs many many years ago after I had moved to Istanbul Turkey. I wasn’t allowed to work and after 3 months I felt as though I was going to go insane if I didn’t find something to call my own. I studied a lot of different things over the years, design, photography, nutrition and social sciences to name a few. Out of all of these things photography has been my escape, my creative outlet that helps me disappear into a flow state. It helps me to see and soak in the world around me and all the different places and cultures that I call home. I cannot imagine my life without it.

When I first started in photography there was a lot of play and experimentation. I didn’t care whether it worked out or not (especially once digital was an option) because I just wanted to see what happened and I thrived on the journey of creating. Over time I discovered what I liked and what I didn’t and worked ever harder to create what I wanted to create. It has been a wonderful journey.

Over time my photography became less play and more routine. It took me a long time to realise this and when I did I lived in denial for a while, mostly because I didn’t know why this had happened and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. I relied heavily on the fact that I was living in an amazing country with so many photographic opportunities. There was many times where I would be looking through the work of photographers that I admired and be struck by how they were able to create amazing art at home almost daily. I felt as though for me travel had become the crutch I needed to create.

Then I moved to Austria. Vienna is an amazing city full of architectural beauty and a culture that thrives outdoors. For the first 6 months I enjoyed exploring with my camera, then the pandemic hit. I was stuck at home, we were all stuck at home. Online schooling with no ability to go anywhere. Fear took over and made life seem difficult. It became even more important to hold on to the things that mean something to you.

This is when it struck me that I needed to look closer at why I wasn’t able to create on a daily basis the way that I wished I could. Why couldn’t I take my everyday and show it the way that I wanted to. I wanted to capture the magic of the everyday moments. I wanted my photography to stop being about being “right” and about capturing how things felt. I wanted to capture the things that I was grateful for and that made me smile. I wanted to look at my photographs and feel. This meant that I needed to really look at my why and my how.

I went back to studying, workshops, breakouts, books, PDFs etc. I needed to find a way to let go again. And then I discovered lensbaby. I ordered my first lensbaby lens, the sol 45, and I really had no idea what to expect. I tried it and looked at my initial photographs with it and thought that maybe it wasn’t for me, maybe it just didn't suit my style. And then I just let go. Suddenly I was transported back to being a new photographer, doing things just for the fun of it, just to see what would happen, just to play and experiment.

I realised that Lensbaby had given me back permission to play, to have fun with photography and experiment. To do things just to see what happens and what could be created. I let go of what I thought I should be doing and did what I wanted to do. And I am forever grateful to lensbaby for giving me back the part of creativity that I had lost. I am a strong believer in the importance of creativity in all of our lives in whatever form it takes for you personally. It is something to be nurtured, cherished and nourished.

So yes I am now a very proud lensbaby ambassador. I am honoured to be part of such a fantastic community of people who love creativity with the same intensity that I do. This is a company that I respect and am grateful for. I look forward to all the adventures that me and my lensbaby lenses have in store.

So if you read this post and you want to get started with lensbaby or have any questions or just want to have a good chin wag about creativity please message me and I will be so happy to chat. And I have my very own discount code for the lensbaby shop if you want to pop over and shop: https://lensbaby.rfrl.co/nyd9r

Use the code: WOleary