The Emotional Journey of Photos | National Geographic

There have been moments when I've been out shooting landscapes where I've cried because there's things in front of me that I just can't believe are even real. So this competition stands out for me because I think it's just so important to love what you do.

[Music]

My name is Beth Mancuso, and I'm from Zimmerman, Minnesota. At home, we have six kids; we're a big blended family. I have three sons, and my husband has three daughters. We're a Brady Bunch.

Bye, Mom!

My children originally inspired me to pick up the camera. I captured a picture of my son, and you know, I could see his eyes, and they were just so piercing. I really felt like I could see like the window of his soul. I think that from that moment on, I just kind of got hooked.

Photography has gotten me through a lot of tough times. For me, it's kind of like my therapy. When my middle son Ezra was two, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and he had to undergo chemotherapy. There's nothing like thinking that your child might not live, and that really changed me as a person and as a parent. It gave me just such an appreciation for life and for the moments that I get to have with my children. I think it's made me a better person as well.

I do all kinds of photography, mostly portraits and landscape and travel images. I really like to get myself in the frame; it helps show the scale of the environment. For me, it's the ability to freeze time and to capture a moment and know that I'm gonna be able to look back on it or that my kids are gonna be able to look back on it, and then it's gonna tell their story.

I'm so passionate about what I'm doing. I'm so excited to make this into something more, and I hope that when people see my images, that they're inspired to get out and push themselves creatively. I think it's really great that both Mazda and National Geographic want to inspire people through photography. It's such a world language that we can all speak.

[Music]

I'm just really proud that they chose me. I'm hell-bent to do this as a career. I've had some successes over the years; I don't think I ever envisioned this.