9 minute read
Faith Lanning, looking through a lens
A new irection
We’ve all heard stories about people leaving lifelong careers to chase a dream and head down a different path. Maybe we’ve even considered it ourselves.
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The pandemic further fueled that desire, as untold numbers of people became even more motivated to add balance to their lives and embark on new career paths. In this issue we’re continuing our series focused on people who make career changes for a variety of reasons. ...
A picture-perfect second career
Once a respiratory therapist, photographer Faith Lanning now enjoys viewing the world through her lens and freezing moments in time
by ANNETTE JOYCE
Friday night high school football games – there’s nothing quite like the bright lights, excitement of the game and a stadium filled with fans. Just ask Faith Lanning. You’ll find her at nearly every Northern Guilford Nighthawks’ home game, moving adeptly around the field while capturing all the excitement in photographs.
When Lanning, 51, first started her professional life, going into photography was the furthest thing from her mind.
“I loved science, and I loved helping people, so I became a respiratory therapist,” she said.
Finding joy in whatever she’s involved with, Lanning spent 10 satisfying years working with respiratory patients.
It was during this time that she met her husband, Michael, on a blind date. They eventually married and later expanded their family to include two boys – Joshua and Matt.
Deciding they didn’t want someone else caring for their young children while they both worked, the couple came up with a plan to allow Lanning to stay home with them. She gave up her job and her husband took on a second job to make ends meet financially.
“I loved being at home and love being a mom,” Lanning said.
As the boys grew older, Lanning wanted to become more involved in the community and the workplace. In her sons’ earlier school years, she actively volunteered, which led to her becoming a part-time teacher’s assistant.
When Matt was in the third grade, he began participating in a youth football program. Lanning loved watching him play, and became interested in capturing the action on the field as well as the reactions of Matt and his teammates. Faith Lanning has turned her passion for photography into a second career.
Photo courtesy of Faith Lanning
“I picked up a camera and started taking pictures,” she said. “I found out this is what I really like to do.” From there, Lanning’s passion for photography grew exponentially. She became a student of cameras and lighting, all the while practicing different techniques and shooting from different angles. “I learned how to capture what I was seeing and realized that not everyone else was seeing the same thing,” she said.
After about five years of treating her photography as a hobby, Lanning decided to take it to the next level.
Describing herself as “very particular,” she said she wanted to make sure ...continued on p. 22
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As owners of Don Mills Builders, Don and his wife, Annette, have established a solid reputation for high quality and a willingness to go the extra mile for their customers.
Don and Annette each bring their unique talents to the homebuilding process; while Don concentrates on constructing houses, Annette focuses on designing their spec houses as well as serving as a design consultant for homeowners of the company’s custombuilt houses.
“We have folks visit our homes on the Parade of Homes tour every year just to see what new ideas she has come up with,” Don said. “Annette guides our customers throughout the process of building their custom dream home as well, working hard to give them what they want and at the same time stay within their budget.”
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everything was up to her standards before she presented herself as a professional. While accumulating top-notch camera equipment and accessories, she fine-tuned her skills and developed relationships with vendors she could trust.
Then, it was time to make the leap, and in 2018 she debuted her business, Lanning’s Lens Photography.
Lanning’s Lens Photography primarily focuses on sporting events including football, soccer, basketball and wrestling, and senior portraits.
A unique niche Lanning has developed doesn’t involve photographing traditional sports, but hunting. She got hooked on this type of photography after going with her husband, one of their sons and the family’s black Labrador, Coal, on a duck hunting trip in Maryland.
“We were up at the crack of dawn, and it was the middle of winter,” she said. “I definitely loved it!”
Only a portion of Lanning’s work time is spent photographing the action before her – the bulk of her time is actually spent behind the scenes, where she can be found at the computer, poring over photographs and culling them down to the very best shots.
“I do take a lot of images to get that perfect shot,” she said. “I typically capture about 1,000 images at each game. From those, I get anywhere from 150 to 250 or 300 good shots.”
Once she’s selected her best shots, she edits them to ensure the images meet her standards. After that, she uploads them to her website for parents and students to view and possibly purchase.
Although her business offers some flexibility, she doesn’t work a typical 40-hour-a-week schedule. Instead, she follows the high school sports schedules, which include late afternoons, evenings and weekends. And when she’s not on location, she can often be found at the computer, viewing, culling and editing the images she’s captured.
Despite the demand on her time, Lanning doesn’t complain because she’s doing exactly what she loves to do. That, she said, is the key to her success and a piece of advice she shares with anyone interested in starting their own business.
“Do what makes you happy,” Lanning said. “I know that sounds minute, but it’s really important.”
Venturing out on your own is scary, she added.
“The first step is the hardest,” she said. “Sometimes you just have to go with your passion. You’ll never know until you try it.”
REZONING REQUEST ...continued from p. 16
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Townhomes would range in price from $325,000 to $350,000, Michaels said.
Each building would contain two, three or four units, he said; each home would have a two-car garage.
Rezoning of the land would allow for construction of an additional 10 units if Spangler’s house becomes vacant and is torn down, he said.
Not all opponents who wanted to speak during the meeting had the opportunity to do so. The board of commissioners limits comments by supporters and opponents of rezoning requests to 10 minutes for initial remarks and five minutes for rebuttals.
Opponents who did speak shared the view that townhouses are out of character for the area marked by old barns and houses sitting on several acres. On the other hand, some lots in the Highland Grove subdivision are a third of an acre in size.
“We are not here to oppose the development,” said Kermit Robinson, who lives at the corner of Pleasant Ridge and Long Valley roads, just west of the tract being considered for rezoning.
Residents who live in Highland Grove said they worry that traffic may worsen with construction of the townhouses, including some that would be located on Long Valley Road. The narrow road is already a cut-through from Pleasant Ridge Road to Fleming Road.
Michaels said townhouses offer some advantages over single-family houses, such as requirements for buffers along adjacent property. A condition of the rezoning request limits the height of townhouses to 40 feet – or two stories – whereas singlefamily houses can be as tall as 50 feet, according to Mike Kirkman, Greensboro’s planning manager.
Commission member Andrew Egbert said he heard from some opponents of the rezoning request that Windsor didn’t offer “any give and take” in discussions with nearby property owners.
Michaels said Windsor is heeding some requests by property owners. It’s not seeking to build apartments, he said, and it plans access to the development from Pleasant Ridge and Long Valley roads – and not through the Highland Grove subdivision.
Egbert was one of two commissioners who voted against the rezoning request. One of the seven commissioners who voted in favor of the request was Zac Engle, who said he feels “comfortable with the density.”
