1000 Words

The main reason I started this blog is that I was getting kind of annoyed at myself for not being passionate about anything in life. Well, that’s not fair. I’m passionate about the people I care about, my dog, and good food. That’s mostly it, though. All my life I’ve dabbled but never really dove into any particular hobby. Never stuck to anything. Master of none, kind of deal. There are particular hobbies that I always come back to, though. Photography is always my go-to hobby if I’m ever asked about my interests or am caught off guard in an “introduce yourself” awkward icebreaker, but I always follow it up with a disclaimer that I’m just “pretending” to be a photographer or that I’m really bad, but I still enjoy it. It’s true, but I’m trying to do away with the self-deprecating thing. I love photography. 

I’ve grown up with a camera constantly in my face. My parents were always recording my sister and me and documenting important moments in our lives, and looking back at home videos and photo albums has always been a favorite family activity of ours. You’d think that after all these years posing for pictures I’d be at least a little photogenic. Oh damn, again with the self-deprecation, my bad. I think I began to understand how important photographing life was to me pretty early on, or was at least was conditioned into capturing memories and often stopping to look back on the great times we sometimes forget to appreciate. This is why I’ve always been drawn to the art of photography. I don’t remember how old I was or the exact moment I got my first camera, but I do remember taking it everywhere and getting so excited when it was time to develop the roll and flip through the pictures that I had captured and the small joy of reliving a snippet of time through them. Some years later, I got my first digital camera. It was clunky, with a tiny display screen, a total storage capacity of about 10 photos, and took the most pixelated images you’ve ever seen. But I loved it with all my heart. Taking endless amount of pictures without the commitment of film? Sign me up. So from there I’ve gone through several more point and shoot cameras, to finally purchasing a DSLR in high school. 

My camera has gone through many adventures with me, but I never really moved past the basics of photography knowledge and my fear of not capturing moments perfectly led me to often resort to the camera’s automatic settings. Knowing how much the camera is capable of, with just a little bit of skills and practice, though, has always made me interested in further developing those skills. I taught myself a little here and there, enough to be able to work my camera and capture some nice shots, and this summer I finally signed up for a short but formal photography class. It’s so much easier to me to learn when someone else is explaining it to me, so in just a few weeks, I feel like I’ve learned so much and revalidated some of the knowledge that was there, but just needed some solidifying. There’s something great about sharing your work with others, and learning from each other and improving together. I’m sure the same can be said about any form of art or expression. These past couple of weeks have taught me that the biggest and most important step is to just put your work out there. I can’t count the number of times that fear of judgement or rejection has held me back. Through Pam Good Life and my photography class, I’ve been able to let go of some of that fear, or at least acknowledge it and do my best to push past it. The people whose opinion matters the most to you will always have your back, and if anyone has any negative thoughts, it’s not like you’d know or really care. 

The great thing about art is that it’s subjective. Sure, there are rules and general guidelines to what makes a good photograph, but at the end of the day, if you like your end result then that’s all that matters. The world of photography is so vast, and the journey only begins when you release that shutter. It’s beautiful that technology lets us capture any moment with a push of a button, and there’s also something beautiful in knowing that what you see when you look at a picture is a second of a moment that could have so much depth and nostalgia attached to it. No one will know the full story of the pictures that you share, and it’s nice to have a small piece of that to yourself. 

So here are some of the pictures that I’ve taken this summer, no filters, straight out of camera. They make not seem like anything special to you, but now there are specific memories and feelings tied to each of these for me that I hope I can take with me and remember every time I look back at these pictures.

I’m so excited to keep developing my skills, tell stories through pictures, develop my style, and continue my photography journey through this blog.