I Made Up with an Old Friend

Before I ever had a real best friend in life - as in another human being whom I wanted to really get to know and share things with - my closest confidant was probably this 35mm camera that I actually found in a hotel room while on a trip in high school.

It was a like gift from above! It was a sweet camera,too - a black Nikon with a nice enough zoom on it to get some great shots. That camera stayed with me until my senior trip in high school...when while having fun in Orlando, I decided to take it in the beach water and a reasonably high tide splash water into lens, causing it to malfunction.

That came gave me three good years of photos, though, and I used it to photograph EVERYTHING.

My family. New Orleans sites. High School memories. Spiders and spider webs in my grandma's front yard. If I was there to witness it then you best believe I was capturing the moment via photography. I was the school photographer pretty much at both of the high schools I attended; knew how to develop film in the dark room; I used to enter contests everything - I was a beast and even considered becoming a photographer for a living.

Cockiness aside, though, I not only was good at it...I enjoyed it so much.

Then, I just lost the luster. For a couple of reasons - reasons I should probably be sharing with a professional while lying on a couch so I'll just do us all a favor and not go into details.

This summer, though, provided me with a number of moments that I wanted to remember via photography. A trip back home and priceless moments with family. Adventures around and outside the U.S. Seeing sites and meeting people that I may never see again.

I had to capture the moments.

While shooting the shots throughout the summer, I felt an old...something. Camera in hand felt so familiar.

Then, while at a Bun B concert, it was like I reconnected with an old friend. It was a free concert and I was right up on the stage and got some great shots that made me realize how much I missed the art of photography. That something was that "itch" - you know the "itch" I'm talking about - and it was back.

Bun B at The Cat's Cradle, August 18, 2008

Like the other photos on the blog, I shot the photos with a four-year-old Sony Cybershot camera that I *coughs* borrowed from my job. I takes good shots - especially portraits that need no flash. I plan on investing in a more professional model in '09, though, and I hope to take a photography course at The ArtsCenter to get better at photography.

At the moment, though, I'm just glad that I've reconnected with my ol' buddy!