The heart shaped leaf was God’s reminder to me that sometimes the beautiful things captured are the majestic bald eagles we have traveled hours to see and the simple leaf. 

I still remember the feeling of getting up early, walking out of their apartment and being excited for the day and what I might find to photograph.

When my husband and I moved to Washington, D.C., in my late 20s, I spent my free time walking around with my camera. We lived across from the National Cathedral, and I often found myself in the gardens on the grounds, camera in hand. I always discovered something new I wanted to capture.

I took another photography class where we traveled to Virginia to take photos, and I found myself back in nature, exploring manual mode while photographing eagles! But my favorite photo from Virginia was of a leaf shaped perfectly like a heart. Had I not had my camera with me, I wouldn’t have been as focused on noticing the beautiful things around me.

I went on to have a 20-year career as an educator, and when I left education, I picked my camera back up. When I started Amy McMahan Photography, I realized that I wanted to capture the beauty in both grand moments—like photographing bald eagles—and the simple ones, like a perfectly shaped leaf. Photography reminds me that the extraordinary can be found in both.