I have always been big on taking pictures. When I was 17, I got a digital camera for my birthday, and it was all downhill from there. Taking photos is a great way to capture moments - from semiformal to prom, to just hanging out with your friends. I have photo album after photo album full of pictures from high school and now, college. However, up until this year, I have really only worried about two buttons on that camera: the power button, and the button that takes the picture. I never knew what all those other symbols meant. Needless to say, my camera expertise was extremely limited.

This semester, I’m taking a Photography class that has really opened my eyes to the possibilities that having a camera in front of your face can present. Though I have always been interested in taking pictures, this class has sparked my interest on a much deeper level. I now find myself looking out the window when I’m in the passenger seat setting up photos in my mind. I can’t tell you how often I hear myself telling a friend that “wow, that would be a really pretty picture.” When our teacher told us to create an account on flickr.com, I found myself looking at photos for hours. I was seriously addicted to flickr for at least a week. (I’ve been trying to cut back, because it was interfering with my homework.)

Last Wednesday, we took a field trip during our class to Elmwood to take pictures. Since it was Halloween, we were encouraged to find objects like a jack-o-lantern, candy, a candle, a mask, and a shadow. Surprisingly, some of those things were difficult to find. There were a bunch of other cool photo-ops, though, and it was fun to get out of the classroom in order to work on our photo taking skills. I’m glad that Photography was a required course, because who knows if I would have stumbled across my new interest some other way.