When I was in college, I took a photography class during the summer school session between my junior and senior year and loved it. I used my dad’s old 35mm camera (which was special since he had passed away my freshman year). We used film back then and it was always interesting to see what your results would be. We did black and white photography and developed our own film! It was so much fun and so much stress because until the photos were developed ~ you never knew if you caught the shot. Plus, you limited how many shots you took because of the expense!
After I graduated, I went and bought a Cannon AE-1 Program 35mm camera. I used it a few times, but life got in the way and the camera sat on a shelf and moved with me every time I moved.
Fast forward to 2016. My girlfriend asked me to go to CMA Fest in Nashville. I decided that I wanted to bring my camera and pulled it out of the closet. My neighbor had a side business as a wedding photographer so we had him come down to our house in Chicago to look at the camera. He informed me that getting film was a huge issue and that the world had gone digital!!! I felt old!
He recommended a Fuji point and shoot to get my feet wet and 2 days later, thanks to my husband and Amazon it showed up at my office! From there I was off and running! CMA Fest was a blast and I LOVED taking pictures. We had recently bought our ‘retirement’ home in East Tennessee and I loved taking pictures of anything and everything whenever I was there.
Within 6 months I was itching for more and after doing a lot of research (including asking every photographer I saw at the Cubs 2016 World Series Victory Parade what camera they used and why), ended up with a Nikon D5500 and signed up for some photography classes. I was (and am) having a blast.
Now that I live in Tennessee full time and work only part time, I am often heading out to take photos. While my husband golfs on Friday ~ I go out for Foto Friday. Who needs to spend their off day cleaning the house!!!!