When growing up as a child, I didn't think I'd be able to achieve great things or even make an impact on this world, leaving a mark to be remembered by. Going through the typical stages of life, whether its riding your bike for the first time or catching your first foul ball at a baseball game, as those moments come along there tends to be a point in life where we are guided by what we experience and transform that into a lifestyle. Through these special moments that cycle throughout our life, we are brought to a destination. For me, this is photography and the concept that has brought new experiences.
Its not easy finding a hobby that you can always rely on to bring you happiness and use as a tool to separate yourself from the stress in your life. This was a challenge for me. No matter how hard I tried, nothing seemed appealing nor did I know what to search for. Finally, after twiddling my thumbs for a couple of years and exhausting myself, I realized that the one thing that really sparked my attention was the art of seizing the moment. With being invested in producing videos for YouTube for a couple of years, I figured out that capturing nature and life was what made me happy.
So this being said, I made a decision to buy my first camera. With the scarce amount of money I had the only way to provide funding for a camera was to sell my Xbox. A tough decision to make for sure, but was the right one because that very same day I drove to Target with the money I had made from the Xbox and bought myself a brand new Nikon D3300. To many, this isn't important to you at all. You may find this information useless and not worthy to be writing about. But that decision to purchase my very first DSLR (digital single lens reflective) was possibly the most important choice I had made in a long time. It was that very choice that kickstarted my career as a photographer and led me to become who I am today and who I hope to become as the years come forth.
Jumping forward to where I stand now, there's definitely many adventures, experiences and challenges that need to be reflected upon. However, there's one thing that I take away from the art of photography that I still hold true to me to this day. That is the liberation that's given off and inserted into my life. The best way to describe it for me is whenever going out to photograph, I almost always never have a destination that i'm planning on going to. Usually I climb into the car and start driving, no goal, just hoping to find something that catches my eye. This is what's so beautiful. The feeling of independence and knowing that it's just my camera and I surrounded by the flora and fauna. Photography is my gateway to happiness, my source of separating myself from stress and something that no one can take away from me.
As you direct your eyes to the cover photo of this article, you'll notice me perched upon a building, over looking the city of Spokane, Washington. As I sit up there and gaze across the landscape, there's no other feeling that can describe that moment except the feeling of happiness and freedom that fall upon me. Just thinking of all the other people who are out there, finding the source of what truly makes them happy, puts a big smile on my face.
