heba salama photography: who i am....

i am a huge fan of an artist named brian andreas. my friend laura introduced me to him years ago, & while i don't think his "stories" always make sense to everyone who reads them, they always speak to me in different ways. over the last few weeks, i have been experiencing a lot of unexpected things. appreciation from friends for capturing their children in a certain way. the compliments of strangers stumbling across my blog. fans of the biggest loser who are delighted to see another side of me. my friends rallying around & behind me in support with their referrals coming in left & right. the response has been overwhelming, exciting & most of all refreshing. if i may, i am going to be brutally honest. i loved the last two years of my life, the changes ed & i have made, the new life we are living. period. no take-backs, no regrets. with that said, somewhere in the shuffle, i got lost between who i was, who i wanted to be, & who i thought i should be. but the most amazing thing, is i found myself recently behind the lens. i am learning the balance of the new life mixed with the return of the creative me. i think in the middle of things i had started to forget. someone said your life will now be "before" & "after" on the first day we started our healthy journey & into the world of reality tv. never have i recalled truer words. i am so thankful for the friends, well FAMILY that i met through that process, & today i am thankful for the faces of every child that i find myself in again & again everyday when i am sitting down at my desk editing or when i am outside freezing, begging that little baby to give me one good smile....it's all worth it & then some. so i feel like i'm back, not that i know where i went- i think i was off trying to inspire a nation to be healthy-- in all seriousness, i am thankful that i have been given the opportunity to make this change & hope that i can continue to bring people the images that make them so happy. and in the words of brian andreas:

I've always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who I'm supposed to be, so it's easier to remember who I am