SIGMA Shares

Meg Loeks: Camera Mom and SIGMA Fan

Meg Loeks is an extremely talented portrait/lifestyle photographer. Through the photos on her personal Instagram account, we are able to watch her beautiful three boys grow up, and experience the beauty of their small rural town. Her photos display a touching mix of comfort as well as spontaneity and adventure.

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 24mm F1.4 Art

Meg’s journey as a photographer began with film when she was only about 11 years old. She still has that camera, and likely will forever. Meg switched to digital photography in high school. There, she took several photo classes, helped to produce the yearbook, and took special interest in developing prints in the dark room. She then put down the camera for several years in college, and picked it back up when her first son, Leo, was born.

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 24mm F1.4 Art

Meg got her first DSLR when Leo was born and continued moving up and up. She now has a full frame camera, with which she takes photos just about every day.

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art

Her favorite lens is the SIGMA 85mm F1.4 Art. “That’s my lens. I absolutely love it.” She shoots at F1.6 and says she “gets really nice compression.” She also mentioned that the 85mm is just about the only lens she uses outside. “It’s super sharp, the color is amazing, and it’s fast. Really fast. Those three things are what make the 85mm my favorite.”

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art

Meg’s Voice in Photo

I asked Meg about her personal styles and photographing rituals:

Going into a shoot, do you have goals for the photos you want to capture or do you simply play it by ear? “It’s a little bit of both in most cases,” she explained. “Sometimes a moment will happen and I will quickly grab a camera. Other times, I will try to recreate moments that I have already seen my boys have. I usually have some sort of goal, but having toddlers really showed me that unexpected things happen all the time. They may be doing something that will completely change my vision.”

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art

One of her favorite times to shoot is early in the morning, when the light reflects into her home.  She says that there are certain areas in her house that get beautiful low light, and she absolutely loves shooting there. “Our family also loves the outdoors,” she adds.  “We go hiking and play in the yard all the time. Michigan is filled with great sand dunes and the lakeshore, which is amazing, but my favorite place to shoot is just around our house. Because it’s home and it’s comfortable.”

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art

The Future:

Meg is currently working as an instructor and mentor for Clickin Moms and hopes to continue.  She would eventually like to do one-on-one mentoring and have her own retreat.  She also has recently started doing landscape photography and describes it as “therapeutic – me time.” When further discussing what her future may look like, Meg claimed “With three young kids, it’s hard to tell what the future is going to be like. But family comes first always.”

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art

Advice:

“Never stop learning. If there’s ever a question about a way to do something, there’s pretty much always a way. So research that and study that. Keep experimenting. It took me a while to find my style and my voice. I studied artists that I loved and looked up to, and eventually figured out what it was that I loved about their work. From that, my voice evolved. It does take time, and it’s still evolving. I have had a bit of a shift this year and people have noticed. It’s hard, but growth and change are good things.”

© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art
© Meg Loeks 2017 | Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art
Comments (0)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *