As the Special Events Coordinator for the Virginia Beach Photography Club, it'll be my responsibility to entertain you through various field trips, educational workshops, gallery shows, and guest speakers throughout 2008. You'll see me at each meeting inviting you to join me in a variety of exciting and educational activities. But you may not have the opportunity to ask me much about myself. Just exactly who is Halie Hovenga?
It all began 37 long years ago with the birth of a little baby girl--sister to a colorful brother, daughter to a colorful mother and honest-Abe father, and neice to at least two clowns. The shadow thrown from such creative people was strong, and I withered under it as my brother bloomed. It seemed that everything he touched turned to gold, everything he attempted was golden. But tragically, my brother passed away from AIDS-related illness in 1997, and I was freed from his shadow. Awkwardly at first, I came to realize that I would survive my older brother, that I would live to be the great one--the only one of two.
I always felt an artistic nature inside of me, but I conveyed this nature through creative dress and style rather than art. I peirced my nose and my belly, I wore long jons to school as if they were clothes, and I bleached my hair pure white my senior year in high school. But a complete change came over me as I realized that I could express myself artistically in the fine arts. I began to sketch and paint. I sketched all of our pets and my daughter and my husband. I painted feminist art. Finally, only in 2007 did I pick up the camera and decide that I could control it artistically, that I would look through the viewfinder and make a picture, rather than just snapping a photo. At that moment, a monster was born!
Yes, my brother had been an amateur photographer (among many other things), as well, but he had never believed he could do anything with it. With the powerful confidence of my adult self, I picked up the camera armed with knowledge, the knowledge gained from reading vast amounts of information from books and the Internet. I then signed myself up for every photography-related workshop within the region, attending the Chrysler Museum's, eight-week workshop "Learning to See," with Bob Lerner, and an array of Washington Photo Safari workshops on f-stops and shutter speeds, filters, portraiture and pet portraiture. Finally, I put myself out there to the local community by offering TFCD (trade a CD of my photos in exchange for a model's time). This last step towards bettering my photography not only continues to teach me where my photography is lacking but also has given me the precious knowledge of where my passion lay, maternity and childbirth photography.
As I continue to develop as a photographer, my goals for the future are ambitious. I would like to eventually market myself as a professional Intimate Portraiture Photographer but in the mean time, I'm looking for opportunities to continue building skills, exhibit my work, and possibly enter my work in competitions. The market is full of photographers, but I hope my unique, creative eye helps separate my work from that of others. It's risky, putting myself out there. Maybe I don't have what it takes. But I'll never know if I allow that old shadow of self-doubt to drown my dreams once more. And so, I persevere.
If you've read this far, thank you for taking an interest in me and my work. I look forward to sharing my journey and enthusiasm for photography with you. Please feel free to reach out and say hello at our next member meeting--or better yet, join me for a chat over coffee or lunch on our next planned field trip! I look forward to meeting you and hearing about why you're passionate about photography.
Happy Shooting!
Halie Hovenga
Virginia Beach Photography Club, Special Events Coordinator
halie@haliehovenga.com
www.haliehovenga.com