Everyone has a skill or hobby
that they are good at. We build on these skills till we become literate enough
in that skill to make good use out of it. Some people are literate at baking
and can memorize recipes and alter ingredients to put a new spin on it. One of
my favorite hobbies is photography. I may not be a pro at it yet, but I am
literate in the world of photography and am willing to learn so much more.
As with most children, as I was growing
up, my parents always wanted to take pictures of me, whether for religious
occasions, holidays, or annual family photos. I was very photogenic. As I grew
older and saw my mom and grandma always taking pictures, I eventually wanted my
own camera so that I could take pictures too. One year, for Christmas my mom
had finally gotten me a digital camera, and it was pink, which made it even
better.
With any new toy, all you ever
want to do is play with it. For the rest of the day, all I did was take
pictures of everything – presents being opened, family sitting together on the
couch, the tree. I had a lot of fun with it. I tried to find any reason for me
to take a picture with my new camera. The only interesting thing in my house to
take a picture of, though, was my cat, so whenever I was out, I tried to find
something pretty to take a picture of.
When I was in eighth grade, I
went on a class trip to Washington D.C. Needless to say, my camera was out
almost 24/7. I took pictures of everything – statues, buildings, my friends,
and probably even the ice-cream on my face. From then on, any time I went on
vacation, even to today, I always have a camera with me and will make everyone
stop every twenty seconds so I can take a picture of something. That really
started to annoy my sister when I did that on our last trip to Disney World. I
always felt like there was something interesting to take a picture of, and I
wanted to remember all of it.
For a while, I found photography
as mainly a hobby for personal uses, whether it be to remember vacations or documenting
nature, which was always beautiful. Once I started college, a friend of mine introduced
me to the school newspaper, The Anchor, and I became a wanna-be professional
photographer. I always took more pictures than I needed, which really bugged my
boss because he was the one who had to filter through all of them. I learned
how to use a professional camera, at least as much as I could learn without
confusing myself, and played around with it as I attended many campus events.
Each location had a different setting and purpose, so I learned to adjust my
camera to the specific needs of the event, including shutter-speed and light
density. After a year of being a photographer for the paper, I bumped my way up
to Photo Editor, where I learned how to use the software to edit photos to have
them printed in the paper. It was time-consuming, but it was a job that I loved
because photography was such a passion of mine.
I only stayed in that position
for a short time before I came over-worked with school, but I never let that
get in the way of my passion for photography. I still love taking pictures and
turning them into something amazing.
When I was back in high school,
my grandma also got me hooked on scrapbooking. She went on lots of cruises and
took lots of pictures, aligning them all in a beautiful scrapbook with lots of
decorations. She began buying me some scrapbook pieces, like paper and sticker
decals, and I began displaying my pictures. When I was younger, I only put my
pictures in photo albums so that I could flip through them and share my
memories, but now, it has become an art. My first scrapbook was quite a project
– I began looking through all my childhood photos, picked out my favorite, put
them in chronological order, and made my own personal scrapbook. I had so much fun putting all the pages
together and adding personal touches, whether it was some ribbon, stickers, or
a phrase. I felt proud of myself for what I had accomplished and felt like I
had to show it off to everyone just so I could show them how good I was.
Having these skills has given me
a new perspective – being able to see things differently than most people and
viewing things in a different lens. I have developed a photographer’s eye and
can see so many details that most people ignore or overlook. Sure, for now that
may only mean I can see the flowers when most people only see the garden, but
in the future, I think it will help me build a perspective that most people
wouldn’t otherwise see.
In the future, I hope to become a
teacher. Sure I can use photography in the classroom (pending consent of the
students and parents), but the skills that photography has provided me with
could be used even more. I can look at a situation from many angles and decide
which angle I like. I also have a more artistic thought, so I can hopefully
make learning fun and appealing. I am not saying that this is what I am
expecting to happen, but I would love to find a way to let my photography
follow me anywhere I go and use it to create my own lens and a new perspective.
