Capturing Nature

I was 16 when I saved up for my first "real" camera.

I may be dating myself here, but I chose my first camera because Andre Agassi was in the commercial and so there really was no other choice. The Canon EOS Rebel was definitely the way to go.

My grandma was a photographer and from the time I was little I loved pouring over all of her photo albums every time we went to visit. It didn't matter that I didn't know who most of the people were or where the pictures were taken. She has an eye for seeing absolute beauty in the ordinary and whimsy in the mundane.

A great photo is one that has meaning. It doesn't have to be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen to make it the most beautiful moment or memory. Digital cameras and phones have taken some of the wonder out of photography for me. I remember having to wait for a week and then only days and then, wonder of wonders, the 1 hour photo shops appeared! Digital is great for not getting a whole roll of black pictures back because the shutter was closed or the film was exposed or bad. But the anticipation of what those pictures were going to look like was a big part of the experience.

My grandma also developed her own black and white photos. I loved helping her. Being in a completely dark room with only a faint red light, watching images appear on the paper as it hung to dry is one of my favorite memories.

We were given one of Kent's grandma's desks this year and we found some great old photos and newspaper clippings among the items left over from years past in the drawers.

I always plan on putting all of our pictures in albums each year. Maybe this year I finally will. There is something about flipping through pages and touching an image that was placed there decades ago by someone who thought enough of that person, place or thing to print it out and give it it's own dedicated place on the page.

Tawni