The photography journey of Samantha Covert -

My Photography Journey by Samantha Covert

My photography journey began in 2008, when my husband gifted me my first DSLR (a Nikon D40) just before our wedding. I had no idea how to adjust any of the dials, but was happy that even in auto mode my images were better than those I took with my little point and shoot.

My interest and motivation for capturing images really ramped up after my first child was born in 2009.

I became quite photo-crazed soon after his arrival! I wanted to capture everything: our simple daily outings, quiet time around the house, and of course his major first year milestones.

So, I happily clicked away with my D40 and kit lens on auto. At that point I wondered why some photos seemed better than others…and why when I turned off the pop-up flash most of my images were really blurry. After (finally) reading my camera’s manual and reading some resources online, I tried the different semi-auto modes (like “portrait” and “macro”) but it didn’t seem to improve my image quality. Around this time, I decided it was time to “edit” my images…yikes!! If you remember the free photo editing program “Picnik” Google used to offer, you are probably already cringing before even looking at my works of art below 😉

One day when my son was around 8 months old I was complaining to a friend (who was a portrait photographer) that I just wasn’t getting the results I was seeking with my current camera. I remember saying, “All I want is to get decent photos of my son against a blurry background”. That’s how simple I thought it was. In my mind, if I could learn to do that, I would be the most amazing “mom-tog” ever. I’m sure my friend knew my limitations were mostly not camera-related, she generously lent me one of her back up camera bodies, a Nikon D200 plus a 50mm 1.8 lens. Her advice was simple, “Switch to manual mode, and practice, practice, practice!” So, practice I did….my son bore the brunt of it all; but I also liked to incorporate his “furry sisters” into my daily practice “shoots” as well.

I bought all the photography books and magazines that I could get my hands on, started scouring the internet for tips and tutorials, and officially became obsessed with learning to take better photos. I believe having a better camera and lens propelled my photography skill. Once I started shooting in manual and experimenting with different apertures and shutter speeds, things finally started to click. I was rewarded by finally achieving my sought-after “subject in focus with a blurry background” and it motivated me to practice even more (although often times my subjects weren’t actually in focus ;).

I remember how happy I was at the time to produce pictures like this:

And this:

I posted them happily to Facebook, and felt like my skills were really developing. I was quite oblivious to exactly how much I still had to learn at this point….as they say, “Ignorance is bliss”, right?

I finally ditched Picnik and bought Photoshop and started trying different lighting situations, thinking more carefully about my compositions, and the framing of my images. Just before Christmas 2010 I was asked if I could take some photos of a friend’s newborn. Up until then I had only taken pictures of family members and had never tried to capture images of a newborn. Although I was terrified, it was a huge learning experience (and I realized after that first ever “session” that I had a TON to learn). I did enjoy taking pictures of another family though, and felt a huge sense of accomplishment when they told me how thrilled they were with the images.

I decided to try my hand at portfolio building with friends and family for the next little while, capturing a mix of newborns, older babies, and toddlers.

I discovered I really loved capturing newborns, and invested in learning all I could about how to improve my posing, shooting, and editing skills. Through word of mouth, my part time business grew, and with each session I felt I was learning and growing, but felt I needed to do something different to take my work to the next level. I also upgraded my camera to a D700 around this time. I loved the additional capabilities of shooting with a full frame camera, and noticed an improvement in my low light images… all of a sudden I could push my ISO past 2000 without getting a crazy amount of noise!

Although I could see how far I had come in my journey up to this point, I still saw a huge difference in my own images versus other photographers whom I admired. In January of 2012 I found Clickin Moms; without a doubt, joining CM was one of the best photography-related decisions I have ever made.

In the beginning, I was intimidated to participate on the forums, but decided to sign up for Lisa Harrison’s Photoshop Fundamentals workshop. I learned so much during the workshop, and started to get a little more comfortable participating in the forums as well. I found all the staff, CMPros, and other members so welcoming and helpful, and started reading every tutorial I could. It was at this point I realized the value of the CM community and its ability to develop emerging photographer’s skills. I looked forward to the opportunity to give back to this community by participating in all aspects of the forum.

That May, I was expecting my second son, and felt an extra push to really learn as much as I could from the tutorials and from posting images on the serious critique forum. I really wanted to be able to capture my growing family’s memories to the best of my ability. Reading Sarah Wilkerson’s “Flawless: The Secrets to Skin” PDF was a huge eye opener for me…I finally learned how to edit skin by the “numbers”, and found the other skin correcting techniques extremely helpful.

That Fall I wasn’t quick enough to snag a full participation seat in Sarah’s Composition and Creativity workshop, and was pretty disappointed. I had heard so many amazing things about the course. I debated about whether I should participate as a study along student or not…I wanted to do full participation to be held accountable, but decided to sign up as a study along student anyway. Was I ever glad I did! The ladies in my SA Facebook group were amazing… so talented, and very helpful in giving me constructive feedback. I also discovered how much I learned from giving others suggestions during this workshop.

In the Winter of 2013, I signed up for my next workshop, Fine Art and Visual Expression with Elle Walker, and it was incredible! During FAVE I produced several images I am proud of.

So many aspects of composition, lighting, and the emotion of photography were finally starting to click for me. Up until that point, I really felt that the artistic aspect of image-making was a challenge for me. It seemed so natural for others, to “see” the finished image in their mind before pressing the shutter, and to innately know what works versus what does not. Luckily, Elle’s materials and critique, combined with the feedback from the TA’s and my classmates, helped me climb that artistic hurdle.

I realized that while some photographers may have an innate ability for producing creative images, much can be learned through practice, good instruction, and passionate determination. That Spring I applied and was accepted to CMPro. This was a huge accomplishment for me….and it further motivated me to keep learning and moving forward with my photography education.

My artistic voice was further strengthened after taking Caroline Jenson’s The Art of Observation workshop. She taught me how to draw inspiration from the details in my everyday environment, and how to incorporate them into my images for added impact and meaning.

Although I love capturing a wide range of subjects (babies, children, and families), I adore capturing newborns. Last Fall I was lucky enough to participate in the first run of Alicia Gould’s Newborn Photography class, and it was amazing. I feel it really helped strengthen my newborn work. The lighting and processing techniques taught are useful, and I now feel confident in my style and vision as a newborn photographer. Here are some of my favourite images during and after completing Alicia’s class:

Last Winter I started to look into ways to become more creative with my outdoor portraits; I felt like there were aspects in my lighting and processing that could be strengthened. I found some very helpful tutorials on CM and did some fun outdoor shoots that I really loved… it was cold, but so worth it!

This past Spring one of my images was selected from among 8,000 entries for inclusion in the 2014 Voice Digital Print Collection. I am so honoured to be included in this collection – the images featured in the gallery are absolutely incredible.

Just recently, I was lucky enough to participate in a mentorship with Leah Robinson from Horizon Within. I am still in the process of assimilating all the materials from the mentorship, but Leah was absolutely incredible at showing me ways to find the best outdoor lighting conditions, how to add polish and impact through creative processing, and how to produce images with a life-like three dimensional quality to them. I have admired her work for a long time, and appreciated the amazing images produced by other photographers she has previously mentored. I feel it was the creative push I needed to elevate my work to the next level, and am so grateful to Leah for that. I am still working through my photos from our time together, but here are a few of my favourites:

That is my photography journey thus far! I am so thankful to have found photography as my creative outlet, and so grateful for the incredible friends I’ve made in the process. Clickin Moms has been instrumental in my growth as a photographer… when I look at my work pre and post CM, I can truly see how far I’ve come! Thank you for allowing me to share my journey!

About the Author

Samantha Covert

Samantha is a natural light portrait photographer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She enjoys capturing a mix of posed and lifestyle images during her sessions, and especially loves capturing newborns. She also participates in personal photography projects of her own family; the adventures of her two young boys are the focus of this work. In her free time, Samantha enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with family and friends.

See more from Samantha at www.samanthacovertphotography.com.