Why "Illuminate Photography"?

In trying to come up with a meaningful name for my business I thought of many options. The problem... they were all taken. And that meant the website addresses were taken. And being the artsy type I just gotta be original, ya know?

I don't really know the exact thought process that brought me to the word I ended up landing on, but I do know I was headed west on Route 88 on my way home from work. When it came to me I initially liked it so much I text messaged it to myself so I wouldn't forget. It was starting to grow on me.

My train (of thought) was that I was trying to think of words that were synonomous with light. I don't know exactly what brought "illuminate" to mind, but I think it might have helped that a song by one of my favorite artists, the David Crowder Band, came on the radio sometime during my drive. (The band has a disk called Illuminate... thanks for the inspiration guys!)

When I got home I jumped on the computer to look up the definition. I wasn't totally sold on name yet. But as I read through the definitions I realized that God had truly inspired the name...

il·lu·mi·nate
4. transitive verb cause somebody to look happy: to make something, especially somebody's face, look happy and animated

This was just one of the definitions. Some other definitions are: to make somebody visible or bright with light; to be lit up; to provide somebody with spiritual enlightenment; to add colored illustrations to a page.

Not only are the definitions perfect for a photography business, but they are an amazing illustration of the "big picture" of what I'd like to accomplish with my business... and that is to glorify God with it and through it all. With my business I hope to be a light to the world... shining for God.













I know that God has been in the drivers seat orchestrating this whole thing so far... allowing Faith to visit our lives for the short time she was with us... she'll always be my original inspiration. And through that experience God brought out the gift of and passion for photography in me. It was there all along, but Faith made it shine. And now Dave and I have a beautiful baby boy Jonah who has inspired me to want to be able to stay home with him. God has given me the faith to quit my job, and now to start my own photography business. I'm so psyched to see what He has planned for me next!

Well that's my story of how I named my business and the meaning behind it. Thanks God for illuminating my life with your awe-inspiring goodness and mercy.