you've made your choice of gear now what

Most have made up their minds when they finally decide to get a camera for what they want to capture or at least have a semblance of an idea. I picked up a camera when I was about 12 and started shooting everything, and anything I thought was interesting. For most, this is how it starts.

I was in the 8th grade, and my friends were my first subjects. My parents saw I was into photography but didn't want me to bring an SLR to school, so they bought me a Kodak Pocket Instamatic. It used 110mm film and was perfect as it fit my school bag. They even got me some flip-flashes for when I wanted to shoot in darker conditions.

When I got to HS, it was people I was concentrating on as it was interesting to watch people and photograph them. During my sophomore year in high school, my family moved to Sacramento, CA. So, I put my camera down for a bit while I adjusted to my new surroundings. It wasn't until my senior year in high school that my mom bought me a new Nikon FM2, and I started with photos again.

Then, in college, I moved toward photographing women, primarily those I thought looked like they could be models. I was fascinated by the supermodels of the time it was the 80s and birth of the supermodel, and I wanted to be one of those photographers.

I honed my skills by working for a couple of photographers and then for a one-hour photo shop. It was the best to work for a one-hour shop. I had a studio to use when I wasn't on the clock and could print my photos; I just had to pay for them. Most of the time, because I was an 'extra photog,' I paid back those prints for my time working at the shop.

While working for the shop after classes and on weekends, I found potential models at school. Because there was no social media, having a 'professional photographer' take your photos was something new to these college girls.

I grew my port, knowledge, and love of creating images. Early on, it was a lot of mistakes, trial and error, and reading a bunch of Kodak books that my foster parents bought for me. I call them foster parents because I lived by myself then, and a couple who lived down the street from me became my 'adoptive' or 'foster' parents because my parents lived in Guam.

I miss those years. The beginning is always the best. Photography wasn't something everyone did as it was an expensive hobby. I was able to do it for as little cost as possible; it just cost me my time and effort.

Pursue your passion, find your niche, and keep going, no matter what you're told. If one day you wake up and start taking photos and decide you're a photographer, then go for it and never stop learning!