Capture the irreplaceable moments and emotions
with beautiful rendition and an exquisite sense of distance.

I took up photography shortly after my marriage, when my husband encouraged me to do so. In the beginning, I took pictures of scenes from the four seasons as I felt like it. Until my child was born, I didn't have much of a sense of purpose in terms of "what I wanted to photograph", but rather I thought about what I found beautiful and what I thought the subject should be at any given time. I think the experiences I had at that time helped me develop the "antennae" of my current interests. Life events such as marriage and childbirth, which drastically change the environment and habits you have been living in, affect the way you see and feel things.

In my case, I left my job when I got married and started a new life away from the place I was accustomed to; and being in a place where I didn't know many people, I experienced a feeling of being far away from "my community" which I had built. What lightened that feeling was the connection I made through social networking via photography. If I tweeted about my unfamiliar childcare problems, people who were up late at night would help me as friends. Social media was a new "community" for me, and photography helped me make that connection.

What I want to take is "a picture which shows the child as she is". If she's happy, she's happy; if she's sad, she's sad; if she's frustrated, she's frustrated. The expressions that can be taken at the age of three are only for that time, because they cannot be taken at the age of eleven. My two daughters have different personalities. So of course, I approach photography differently. I believe that my passion for photographing children goes hand in hand with my passion for bringing up children. In order to capture a child's "personality", it is important to look for the good qualities of each sister, portray them as attractive, and recognize and respect their differences in a positive sense. Human beings are easily forgetful creatures, so I think photography is a good tool for preserving moments that pass away in a visible form. I was never good at keeping a childcare diary, so photography is the only "growth record" that I have been able to keep.

I love the 50mm focal length. The reason is that I can take photos while talking to my children. I believe that my photographs are "photographs that only I can take", which are shaped by the relationship between parent and child, and the sensations and perspectives that emerge on the spot. I want to take photographs from a distance where I can talk to them and communicate with them, and I want to preserve the present moment of the child that only I can portray. That is why I use the 50mm.

The SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG DN | Art clearly captures the contours of light in everyday life, making the scene of a moment seem more dramatic. And I think its greatest appeal is that you don't have to wonder about the angle of view at the shooting stage, you have to trust your instincts and shoot in motion -in other words, you can be honest about the moment you want to capture. The aim is to capture a scene that would be overlooked in a video. Sometimes I take pictures while moving or playing together, and the SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG DN | Art has a fast autofocus, so it tracks well even when shooting while moving agilely and communicating with the subject.

I value the sensation of capturing fragments of beautiful scenes in my "documentary of daily life", which is full of unexpected events, and I feel that the focal length of 50 mm is most suited to this kind of photography. I like single focal lengths because of the beauty of their depiction. When shooting close-up, think about what you want to capture, and if it's a facial expression, then use a background that doesn't draw the eye to anything other than the expression. If the subject is light, look for a contrast between the angle and the background so that the light stands out.

If you want to take a close-up of a scene, including the background, it is important to think about what you think is beautiful about the scene and why you want to take it. In this respect, the SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG DN | Art allows you to take chances even in dimly lit scenes in the evening or at night, and to shoot with emotion and feeling.

I shoot when there is "room" for me and my children. Because we spend time together as a family, I know when the best light is available in various aspects of daily life and I have a good grasp of the family routine. For example, from autumn to spring, there is beautiful slanting light in every corner of the room. It creates interesting shadows and the sun rises late, so I can capture the moment the children wake up from bed and the beautiful morning light in their bedrooms at the same time. In summer, for example, we go to the seaside after dinner for a cool evening. The sea is a great playground for the children and a great place for me to photograph them. It's a fun, enjoyable and very good time for the whole family to relax, both physically and mentally.

I have always loved seeing seasonal scenes and appreciating the beauty in everyday life. I think it is important to nurture children's sensitivity and I want to feel and be nurtured together with them. I feel that my passion for photography is based on my desire to feel the beauty that is here and there in life, in each of the four seasons, to enrich my daily life together, and to express and share these emotions.