Hey there! I'm Barb

Welcome to the first edition of this blog for In the Arena Photography. 

This blog will be a space for updates on recent, upcoming work, and everything in between (visuals included, of course)!  When I am not photographing clients for family portraits, events, tournaments, or other services –  I like to try out new things to better my skills and I’d love to share that with you as well.  For this first blog post I would like to share a little bit about myself and In the Arena Photography. 

I am from the Ciudad Juarez, Mexico/El Paso, Texas area.  I enjoy traveling, discovering new spots for food, coffee,brews, and exploring hiking trails.  I also practice jiu jitsu, a grappling sport that forces you to become comfortable with the uncomfortable, while upping your cardio!  Not a big reader, but when I get hooked on a book it will most likely be non-fiction, though I like to keep an open mind.  I recently finished reading Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, which I highly recommend! 

And of course, photography.

I started In the Arena Photography because I love to candidly capture a wide range of activities and experiences. The emotions photos can bring up are so many and so different for everyone.  Like the way a photograph can make us time travel to a special moment and almost relive it is a trigger phenomenon that fascinates me. 

In the Arena Photography gets its name from an excerpt of Theodore Roosevelt’s speech “Citizenship in a Republic”, delivered in Paris, April 23, 1910.  A speech whose title is often interchanged with that of “Man in the Arena”.  If you aren’t familiar with it, this is the excerpt:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Each person knows their struggle best

And win or lose at least they are battling it out and trying to succeed.  It is better to be in the arena, than on the sidelines. 

What's your arena?

Photographs can simply be a sweet thing to reminisce with.  They also serve as reminders of where we are in this roller coaster of a life.  They take us to the moment when we chose to get in the arena and strive for victory.  Photographs can also be a measure of how far we’ve come in our path to success, however you define it.

The irony is not lost on me, that I am on the sidelines taking photos of your arena whatever it may be.  I see my arena as succeeding in bringing that moment to you, despite today's busy, instant gratification, one size fits all culture.  

Thanks for taking the time to read this first entry!  I hope this entry gave you a bit more insight into who I am and what I want to achieve for you.  If you have any questions, contact me using the form below.  To check out my work you can click here.

Until next time!

Barb