The Beginning

A Lone Leaf - Sept 2020

This was the first photo I ever took on the first camera I ever bought. A “masterpiece,” some (my mom) would call it. “Wow, a leaf,” others (my conniving sister) would proclaim. “A lone leaf clinging to life on one brisk day at the end of the summer of 2020,” I would call it, being a little too literal. Little did I know that this leaf would be forced to continue to cling to life in my first-ever blog post, really just the Sisyphus of our generation. It has been almost three years since my first shutter click, and a lot has happened since then, but today I want to visit the past and recollect my experience in photography before my first camera.

I have loved cameras and taking photos for as long as I can remember. I recall experimenting with my mom’s Razr flip phone, taking excellent selfies with my sisters, and paparazzi photos of my parents before I got too experimental and tried to take some photos underwater. I remember stealing the family camcorder to try making stop-motion movies that lacked the critical component of stopping motion; I just had videos and videos of me moving things slightly to convey movement but had no grasp of how to edit videos. I remember begging and pleading, much to the annoyance of my family and the general public, on my birthdays for the most expensive DSLR cameras we would pass in department stores because they had HUGE lenses and made WICKED clicking noises. I identified with my favorite superhero (seen below), Spider-man, who worked as a photographer when he wasn’t slinging webs and catching bad guys. I remember pausing his movies and just admiring the cool cameras he had with him. Shout out to Tobey Maguire and Spider-man 2, the GOAT.

Check out my sick poses!

My first cellphone was my following instrument for evil in my photographic career. With my little phone that could, an iPhone 6s, I took the best photos I knew how whenever I could. I took it on a week-long backpacking trip into the Wind River mountains of Wyoming (pic 1 &2), and I took it on my older sister’s trip to New York (pic 3 & 4). I’ve included the photo with my hood up to hide my cry for attention-bleached blonde hair. Also, look how huge my sister is, taller than the Flatiron building! Or to the real Tobey fans, the Daily Bugle.

In high school, I began taking video and graphic design classes. I used a GoPro camera to shoot videos for school projects. Finally, I got the hang of video editing to make coherent stop-motion videos. I even ran and won the race for Student Body President, using a combination of my video skills, my silky smooth voice, and my amazingly creative lyrics.

Student Body President campaign video - 2019

I took a slight hiatus from photography while in my last years of high school. Life was busy; I had to prepare for my presidential year, take the ACT, apply to colleges and scholarships, and decide where I was going. In the last semester of my senior year, I thought I had it all figured out. I was to graduate in the middle of my class, work through the summer slinging burgers at America’s favorite drive-up fast food chain, Sonic, and leave for Arizona State University in the fall to study business. But as I would come to find out and continue to find out daily, life doesn’t always go to plan. My senior year coincided with the coronavirus outbreak, so I was gone for good when I left school for my last spring break.

Covid threw my plans into disarray (as it did for everyone). No more college in the fall, just more Minecraft worlds to be conquered. I took up a part-time job at a kayak shop to pass the time -quite illegally, I might add- lifting and loading heavy kayaks for 8 hours a day in the Arizona sun for less than minimum wage -that’s the illegal part- who could ask for more! Who would’ve guessed photography would reappear in my life. On my long days at the shop, I sometimes got visitors from our neighbors next door, and I simply couldn’t resist taking a few photos.

My summer break had turned into the next chapter of my life, and I decided to take a gap year and work a full-time job to save up for college the following year. With my first -legal- job as a dishwasher, I had lots of money and time to think about spending. So on one brisk day at the end of the summer of 2020, I bought my first camera and snapped my first photo.

A Lone Leaf.