How I Got Interested in Photography

I grew up in a town where most people did not have a lot of money and most people did not have a lot of nice things. This was true for me a well. One thing my mother bragged about throughout my life is how the first two years of my life, she went through two rolls of film a month of picture of just me. I was very fortunate that my mother loved to document everything she could about my brothers and myself growing up. I have spent many hours of my life sitting on a bed surrounded photo albums, looking at pictures from my childhood.

Not only did my mom take pictures but she also owned a video camera, which was very rare for someone in our town. I grew up with very few friends who had home videos from their childhood and most of them were usually copies of videos my mother recorded of us.

I was fascinated by camera’s from the moment I could hold one. I vaguely remember walking around my house with a Nintendo film camera.

Once I was about 13 years old, the first camera phones came out. I don’t mean the smart phones. I mean I went from flip phones with not camera to flips phones with cameras. I was obsessed! The biggest issue I had with them was the phone’s lack of storage. After just a few pictures and text messages, your phone would run our of storage. About a year later I asked for my first digital camera. It wasn’t that great and I had a small memory card. My younger brothers decided to take it one day when I wasn’t looking and manager to erase my pictures and break the camera.

For a while I had a few cheap camera phones and eventually another cheap(ish) point-and-shoot camera. Bad quality, good quality, phone or camera, my friends and I took pictures as often as we could. Most of them were usually silly.

Throughout high school I practiced taking more artistic photos. The more I did, the more I realized I would like a nicer camera. Long story short, I got in touch with a small group of people who were working on a short film. One of the guys did this often and I told him I was interested in learning how to use his cameras. He has a few DSLRs that I knew nothing about other than they took grate pictures and video. After a few days, I decided to buy my own.

I began taking pictures of anyone and anything that would let me. I loved sharing them on facebook. It wasn’t long before people started asking me to take prom pictures and family pictures. I hardly ever turned a job down.

I wouldn’t have what I would consider any formal training but I did watch lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of tutorials online.

For years I freelanced and took pictures for whoever wanted them. Once I went back to UNCP in 2018 to finish up my bachelors degree, I took a break. I just don’t have time for it the way I want to. Every once in a while I will take pictures for family or friends but not often. I still like to keep up with the latest trends and editing in photography. At the end of the day, I started taking pictures for myself and to document my memories for myself. I still do that very often. I still love photography but maybe one day I will pursue it as a job again.