I wrote my first post on this blog four years ago today. There were sometimes months I went without blogging but sure enough, once I set a goal to blog 100 posts in 100 days last year, I found my voice took shape here. So today, I’m sharing my first ever blog post from September 14th, 2015:

Do you ever notice when you meet up with a friend after years of being apart, you have nothing to talk about? Nothing to say? There’s a blank canvas in front of the two of you waiting to be painted with the colors of the last 5 years and all either of you can say is “I’m good. He’s good, She’s good, they’re good.”

Then you meet up with your bestie. The friend you are constantly texting, the friend you have Thursday Wine Nights with, and you have a million things to tell each other since the last time you talked….six hours ago. The guy in traffic that almost ran you off the road, that you went to Chipotle for lunch and got free guac, that you fed your dog a whole hot dog and then she threw it up. These details come spilling out of you when you’re with the person you talk to often and when you’re around someone you haven’t seen in a while, there’s not much to talk about. It seems it should be the opposite, but it isn’t.

I am hoping that is what this blog will be like. Right now, I am trying to find something to talk about. There should be a million things to say… I have a voice and a story after all. But I’m staring at a blank canvas not sure what to paint.

Perhaps this will become a place for stories of my derpy dog, a place to confess my love of Samoas Girl Scout Cookies, a place for failures and victories and late nights editing. But for now, in this first post, this is a place to tell you, my name is Denise Karis and I am a Wedding and Portrait Photographer.

How crazy that that’s kind of exactly what happened. In this recent post about coming up with stuff to write about, I talked about how the more you say, the more you have to say.

I’m excited to share today with you, friend! Thank you so much for being here!

Denise Karis is an Arizona photographer who enjoys musicals, Doctor Who and breakfast burritos. IG @denisekaris