Mary Fields Photography Blog

My Take Me Back Tuesday posts have been lacking lately but we are back! Back to Take Me Back! Hmmm…and apparently in my absence I got a little too ‘punny.’

Now, historically I am a self-proclaimed beach girl who loves soaking up the rays while lying on some sandy shores and listening to the sound of crashing waves. It is my happy place and I will never say no to an opportunity to go to my happy place. However, in recent years I have discovered an unexpected love for the mountains. Don’t worry, I don’t have any intention of forsaking my love for the sun and sand…just extending my love for the outdoors. You see, a few weeks ago my mom and I adventured to the Rocky Mountains for a week of exploring the majesty of Colorado. My mom had a business trip and since my office is easily made mobile, I tagged along. The first day we landed and headed to the quaint ski town of Breckenridge only to be given the sweetest surprise. SNOW!!! Yep, seeing as how it was about 85 degrees in Texas when we left, the beautiful chilly flakes were a welcome merriment…quickly making the mountains even that much more special! It snowed most of the day and since it was a week or two before the skiers hit the slopes, the town was in the most perfect state of snowy stillness. It was wonderful. The next few days were spent exploring all the mountainous countryside had to offer and we had a blast. My particular favorite was a view that literally took my breath away. Standing atop a mountain we looked down through the pines onto the most lovely mountain lake surrounded by one of God’s most majestic creations. The mountain. Moments like those are cherished by yours truly and fuel my love of travel and adventure. Most importantly though, moments like that make me feel so wonderfully small in the midst of God’s greatness. In that smallness I feel the greatest sense of contentment.

As John Piper says, ‘God made man small and the universe big to say something about Himself. For the really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but of self-forgetfulness.’

So, in the name of God’s majestic creation and the beauty of self-forgetfulness,

I Say, Take Me Back!

I literally tapped my fingers on the keys and stared at the cursor as I began this post. What to say? What to express? What exactly am I even feeling? How do I even sum it up?

Sum up year 3 that is of living in Dallas and of launching Mary Fields Photography full-time.

Year THREE!!!! It’s been a little over three years since I packed my bags and headed to this giant state of Texas…feeling like the giant-ness of it only made me feel incredibly small. Today, three years later, I still feel small but in the best of ways. I am so very thankful for the people God has allowed me to work with and even more thankful that the ‘work’ includes something so much more personal than that. It includes a chance to share in their celebration and prolong it by snapshotting it for the rest of their lives. It includes the opportunity to cry with them as they exchange vows and laugh with them when their child does something ridiculous. It includes the joy of new life and the start of new adventures. It has been a wild adventure these past three years and while I never would have guessed it could look like this, I am overwhelmed at the blessing that it has been. I am looking forward to starting Year #4 of MFP but not before I take a moment to thank God for all He did in year 3.

I just can’t even believe it. When I made the decision to take a leap of faith and move to Texas to officially launch MFP, I knew so little. I still do, actually. But I reeeallly knew so little then. I was a girl with a Canon 50D camera and one lens who just really loved documenting people and their stories. I was a girl who had always dreamt of being a photographer and had finally (and totally unplanned) gotten up the guts to do so. I remember several moments when I first got to Dallas of thinking to myself ‘What in the world am I doing?!?’ Thankfully, though, those moments were also intermingled with thoughts of, ‘I can’t believe I am getting to pursue my dream job!’ And that my friends, has been the roller coaster of the last three years. Moments of feeling like I bit off more than I can chew and like I might be exposed at any minute (get it…exposed?…total photog joke). Those moments sometimes felt like they might do me in but then, by God’s grace, there are moments where I feel like having a camera in my hand makes me at home and that the fear of exposure is something that is totally worth it. Worth it if I get to do what I love and capture moments for people so that they can treasure them forever. Today, sitting at the end of year 3, I am so very thankful that though those moments outweigh the moments of fear, I have discovered that he moments of exposure are equally as purposeful. For Year #3 was a year marked by exposure…both personally and professionally. But exposure in the best of ways. This past year has been such a challenge for me as I continue to discover what God would have me learn through my  business and how He would use it to continually draw me to the cross. I have found that the moments of exposure draw me to Him much more than the moments of joy and so in some ways, I am learning to cherish being beautifully exposed.

So, in the name of Year #3 and being wonderfully exposed,

I Say, Take Me Back!