The saying “a photo is worth a thousand words” is
something that resonates with me heavily. A photo allows you to be able to tell
a story when words simply cannot. It is for the viewer to take a look and make
their own judgment. Often times, a photo can be self-explanatory, but
sometimes, it takes a few stares to truly get the meaning behind what is being
captured.
A photo always has to start with
something capturing it: a camera. As a child, I would always steal my dad’s
“high-end” camera and take photos of anything that I found interesting. My
parent’s started to notice random photos of our pets, home, and of nature
appearing on the camera. That’s when they realized that I was the thief. During
my 8th grade year, they purchased me my very first camera – a Nikon
D40. With its black shell and extendable 18-55mm lens, I thought I was a
professional photographer. It was so much equipment for such a young girl; even
I was shocked that they purchased something like that for me.
I took care of that thing like it
was my child. I even named it Delilah. I would take Delilah anywhere and
everywhere with me. I would take photos of everything that I found interesting.
Whenever I was using it, I would be sure to clean the lens and the body, and
make sure that there were absolutely no fingerprints on it.
This camera had been through so much
with me. It has captured so many different sights and so many different
countries. It has captured the rice-fields in Thailand, a traditional parade in
the heart of my mother’s hometown, Christmas in Germany and countless trips to
Disney World. It got to the point where my own mother would force me to leave
the camera at home because she would always say, “You are taking too many
photos! Don’t you ever stop?” My answer would always be: no.
Through photography, I was able to
tell a story… a story that could be told much better and more efficiently than
telling a story through writing. I was never good with words. I felt as though
you could capture so much more emotion and truly get to the point of the story
with a photograph. During my travels to Thailand, I was able to capture photos
of the village people, who despite the fact that they did not have much, they
still made the most out of every single situation.
My camera was able to teach me so
much about the world around me as well as the people that I care deeply for. I
have been able to grow so much in terms of my work and experience just because
I liked to take photographs from such a young age. It has helped me stumble
upon some of my favorite photographers as well as videographers. The most
inspiring person that has influenced me the most with my photography (and now
videography) is a videographer named Casey Neistat who basically preaches “it’s
not about the resources you have. Its not about the tools that you have. It’s
not about the way it is delivered. It’s not about the way that it’s done. It’s
always about the idea.”
It is true. It is always about the
idea. It does not matter if you have the best equipment out there, sure, I got
luckily with a DSLR my first go, but I have learned that if you have a great
idea, and can execute it properly, go for it.
My very first camera, Delilah, is
now retired, but she is still my most prized possession. Why? With 100,000
shutter clicks to her, she taught me about the world and about myself. 100,000
photographs… 100,000 memories.
