Getting Into It

Photography was not something I ever thought I would be into. Art in general wasn't my thing. I can't draw  and, honestly, after elementary school, my creative flow was minimal. I doodled very rarely, other than that I only did what was required in art class. When I realized I had to take an art class to graduate from high school, I figured I shouldn't take any of the drawing ones because my fine motor skills are awful. So I chose photography 1 as my art class, just to fulfill the requirement. I wasn't excited.

We started out with pinhole cameras, which really just annoyed me because my hands blurred the photos and subjects were limited. But I realized I liked the dark room. It was comfortable and quiet and a place for me to contemplate.

So photography didn't start out as a love to create. It started out as me having quiet time alone to think. During the time I was taking the class, life was tough for me. But when I went to the dark room it was just me and paper and light and chemicals and it felt amazing. And then one day I had a print that I liked. I was proud of it and thought, "This is something I could really get into."So I got into it. I got a film camera, I learned what aperture and ISO really meant, and I started taking pictures. My first few projects were mediocre, but I felt proud. It felt good to create and express myself even if it wasn't determined "good" by anyone but me. This is the photo I was first proud of since I'm sure you're dying to know what it is. I had a better print, but it was sold. It was very hard to work with the film since it got compromised in the development process, but something good came out of it anyways.

For a long time, I focused on classes deemed important for my future: math, science, language arts... This was the first time in awhile I took something other than core classes seriously. I'm really glad art is a requirement now. Photography is therapeutic for me. If I'm feeling down and I start taking photos, my day brightens. Some of you may not have noticed that I get really down if I go through a rut, not taking a lot of photos. But it gets better when I start taking them again.

Anyway, I worked with film and a point&shoot for awhile and then last year decided to buy a DSLR (canon t1i). I love it. I have so much control to get just what I want. It's awesome. So I don't work in the dark room anymore, but I when I edit photos it has the same effect. I get calmer, I get happier, I feel safer. I love the sound of the shutter, I love playing with the settings to get the look just right, I even love my "bad" photos because that's me learning what works and what doesn't. This is learning for the sake of learning something i love, not learning for my future. It feels so good. So now you know. Photography is something I do to keep myself from being a robot, it gives me some purpose.