Beginnings

Olympus OM10 with a 75/205 MM

The love of photography for me started from my father. I remember growing up and watching my father pull out his camera (an Olympus OM10) every time we were on a trip or just to take pictures of us kids (all six of us). He kept it and a couple of lenses in this old leather boxy camera bag (see picture). I think I was around 10 or 11 when he first let me use it. I remember getting so frustrated when loading film into it that Dad had to eventually do it for me. For the longest time when I shot depended on if Dad felt like loading film for me or not (loading film was hard as a kid!).

And it was heavy! God was that thing heavy. I couldn't use it without having to put it down every couple of shots. I was constantly told to shoot people only and not to waste film on inanimate objects (but I always managed to sneak in a tree or a fence into a roll). Another obstacle that I had to hurdle was the manual focus, there was no such thing as auto focus (such a luxury!).

I developed a passion for wanting to document everything; events, people, and places. I wanted time to stand still and never wanted things to end. I wanted my parents to stay young, my siblings to always be cute, and life to always be simple.

I still think that way to this day. My hard drive is filled with photos of family (how can it not be with over 10 birthdays a year and every holiday on the calendar to celebrate). The fact that I’ve managed to get some of those photos printed and in frames and gifted to people surprises even me.

Although I haven't master freezing time yet I have figured out how to grab a piece of it and carefully tuck it away for safe keeping. Thanks Dad!