about lift
LIFT: "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." James 4:10 NLT
a little history...for the past decade i have been blessed with the skills and opportunity to be a professional graphic designer doing both freelance and 8-5 corporate jobs...all with their ups and downs. the large upside of the past decade is the daily training of the "designer's eye" and software (photoshop) that completely translate to photography which i believe gives me somewhat of an advantage.
since early high school, i've had an eye and interest for photography and favored capturing people and life in general rather than objects and landscapes. but it wasn't until i was abruptly handed a Canon Digital Rebel (thanks mom) and was asked to shoot my sister's very small wedding on the beach...when something happened...i realized how much i loved documenting real, special moments and people in love through the lens. now, at that time i knew nothing past the green "auto" setting on the camera but everyone loved the photos and God planted a new creative seed in my heart. after a month of receiving praises for those images, i spent much time thinking and praying over this new passion that was developing.
soon after my sister's beach wedding i obtained my own professional Canon camera and my first lens (50mm 1.4). at that time i vowed to NEVER shoot on the green auto setting (only in "manual"), and since then God has blessed me beyond my dreams with open doors, new friends and new opportunities. currently i am officially shooting events for the community of Ladera Ranch, engagements, family portraits and weddings.
this new creative passion has been such a life - changing blessing and i am really excited to see what God has in store for the future as i continue to build what i hope and pray to be a fruitful and successful business - blessing people by capturing and lifting memorable life moments. so feel free to drop me a line anytime and my wish and hope is that you will invite me to share YOUR life, special moment(s) and special day.
thanks for reading this far...
- Josh
so why the name "Lift"?
disclaimer: "lift" is something personal to me and i apologize if the following paragraph comes off as too "preachy"...trust me, that is not the intention at all. i tend to wear my heart on my sleeve.
besides James 4:10, the word/term/verb, lift has been on my heart for quite some time. over the years, every time i thought about starting my own new creative business, lift kept coming to the front of my mind and i believe God put it there for a reason. if you're a professional photographer reading this, i'm sure you'd most likely agree that the correct way of doing business is to use your full name as the business name so clients will remember YOU. i completely understand and respect that, and in fact, i'm almost certain it's the most proper thing to do to acquire new clients and grow your business...no judgement. but, for me and my business, i feel that i want the images to speak for themselves and to take the focus off of me...plus it doesn't hurt to be a little different. don't get me wrong..i still want and feel my clients will get to know me and see how i strive to represent lift and what it stands for.
the whole theory behind it is that if i can lift someone's spirit and be used to bless them and their life, if even for a short moment, by showing them an amazing image of themselves, their family, their wedding or their event, then i've done my job. most importantly, if i can do it all while representing God's glory, then i've really done my job.
that's the short of it. i'd love to go deeper with anyone who wants to.
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." James 4:10 NLT
LIFT Photography is owned and operated by Josh Elliott.
