Mini Dream-Come-True

I remember the first camera I ever had. It was one of those long, thin rectangular ones and it was a bright neon yellow/green color. I got it for Christmas and took a bunch of pictures of my cousin's and uncles playing basketball, but only managed to shoot their feet. In high school, I was on the yearbook and newspaper staff as a photographer and I again got a camera for Christmas, only this time it was a 35mm SLR. Since everything went digital, I've had a couple of point and shoots, but I always longed for a digital SLR. Finally, around Easter, I decided to make the investment and I think it was one of the best things I could possibly have spent my money on.

I usually find myself shooting plants and animals, because there are not too many willing human subjects out there, but last weekend I got an opportunity that was really like a dream to me. A coworker mentioned to me that she was going to have some portraits done at JC Penny. When I heard that I believe I gasped (no offense to JC) and insisted that she let me do a photo shoot for her. She has a little boy who turns two-months tomorrow and her husband left yesterday for his second or third tour in Iraq, so it was very important to her to have photos before he left.

So on Sunday, they gave me the great honor of doing my first ever professional (though actually not, since I didn't want to be paid) photo shoot. I'm so thankful to her family for being my guinea pigs. I have a [not so] secret dream of building up a portfolio some day and maybe turning my hobby into a side job. Here are a few of the shots I took: