Friday, September 25, 2009

History of My Photography Life

If being a photographer means, taking pictures crappy or not, with a low-end camera, or a high-end camera, I consider myself to be one since the age of 9. I acquired my first Kodak camera as a birthday gift from my dad. It was cheap, it was like a low-tech point and shoot. Really, I just pointed and shot anything. Most of the things I took pictures of were school Christmas parties, random hang outs at friend's place, or my dog. Maybe next time I can post a couple of shots I took back then.

That camera was cheap, but it was with me for a pretty long time. It wasn't until the age of 15 that my camera broke down and was beyond repair. At first my sister and I were still hopeful with my mom's ancient camera, which was even older than me. The camera that took photos of my first hair, me not being able to walk, me as a baby! That was quite a challenge since we had to shake it a bit to be able to take a shot.

Now came the digital era. My sister, who loves acquiring new gadgets, was always the one acquiring cameras, and doing a buy and sell with them. And I was lucky enough to try most of the cameras that came her way.

During HS, still, it was only people I took shots of. I was usually the one bringing a camera for our HS class parties, events, or what not. I tell you guys, I wasn't really any good at it, I just had a camera, to take memories, none of those photography complications. Special mention to Che, who I remember was really good in making formations when it came to group shots. :P

Years gone by, photos to me, were just memories I loved to preserve. I loved taking pictures of my friends, I loved turning the camera around and taking a shot of me and my friends. This all ended, when the inevitable happened, my sister was going off to another country, and I was left camera-less.

Thus, my first acquired on my own camera: a Canon a720IS, or as I loved to refer to him as, Slimpig(because it is soo fat). That camera went to places! It's been with me for more than a year, and I am still in love with it. It's one of the best purchases I've made with my hard earned money. It was now more than just faces, and memories; sometimes it became about art, structures, animals, I brought it almost everywhere. It got to capture a lot of my treasured moments.

But, there will always come a time when the best thing in life you got, isn't really the best thing in life. Especially in this crazy fast paced world, there'd always be something bigger, better, something we'd just yearn for weeks, months or years, everyday tempting us to get those money out of those banks and just spend it on them big ass corporations produce. Thus came the latest love of my life: a Nikon d80. Pre-loved by a great photographer friend, Ian Teng, which made it more special ;). Although I have to say, Slimpig still works wonders, (though it's got a disease now where it tells me the battery's low when in fact it's not. :(). The Nikon d80, or as I'd just coined Hubba Bubba, will now be with me for my photography needs.

Here lies the wonders that Hubba Bubba will bring to my life. Sure, one way of looking at it is that a camera preserves memories, not makes them. But sometimes, it takes a great imagination, for a great photo, to make a great memory.

PS. This Photo Journal came in a few months late. My camera has already gone through a few things starting from June 2009. A few of the major happenings for it were, a trip to Anilao, Batangas, Hong Kong trip with friends, and Cebu trip with my dad. Some of the more minor photos are random parties, birthdays, movie dates, dinners, or just get togethers.

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