I bought my first camera in the fall of 2005. I was almost 13. It was a Kodak Easyshare with a lens that didn’t even extend past the body of the camera.
I paid $100 for it, (and as a 12/13 year old, that’s quite a sum!) I took 1000s of pictures with it and I was enamored.
I was taking selfies before it was cool. Rawr. Gotta love the braces.
This camera even had video capabilities! Of course, the video quality was low and there was no audio, but what an amazing thing for a 13 year old to have (at the time, now my 11 year old sister has an iPhone).
Speaking of my 11 year old sister, my first video, first video ever taken with my own camera and my own hands, is this one.
I was super talented, yes?
I went on to take some more MAGICALLY AMAZING videos, clearly.
My family would make fun of me for bringing my camera everywhere, saying I wasn’t living life, I was just seeing it through a lens. I was a bit obsessed. Yes. I will admit that my camera batteries died once, I didn’t have anymore, and I cried. Then I didn’t want to continue what we were doing because I couldn’t use my camera.
It was a slow process, but as I was capturing my life in pictures and videos, I learned and I bought new equipment, I discovered story telling and editing. I would hijack my cousins and have them film skits and plays with me. I have terabytes of data in photos and videos and stories and memories.
Slowly, I’ve grown out of my obsession, and now it’s just something I love. Cliché to say, I’m still learning everyday but feel extremely blessed to be able to live OFF of something that I live FOR.
Starting a video production business has been a natural progression, because my camera has been my constant companion (even if it’s now everyone’s constant companion 😉 ). I love sharing what other people have to say and using my skills to further the reach of some really really awesome people.
See you on the other side of the lens!
Katie