Photography and me

I was introduced to photography during my secondary school years. It was my ECA. I still remembered the time when the teacher-in-charge came to my classroom, asking for me. After confirming my name and some other particulars, he asked me, quite solemnly," Are you sure you want to join the Photography Society?" " Yes, I am sure." I replied. But in fact I wasn't sure. I didn't have any clue at all what this photography society was all about. I can't even recalled when and why I chose this as one of the ECAs choice. I remembered the top of my list was the Library Club.

Anyways, that was the beginning. I remembered that Mr Chan (the teacher-in-charge) asked me if I liked to take photos. Back then, I thought he was referring to those point-and-shoot stuff, and I said, yes. After all, I was in charge of taking all the family photos and I really did enjoy it then. Sort of.

Then came the ultimate shock that following Saturday. He introduced me to the seniors and blah blah blah. Then came the dark room, the studio, and the other camera equipment. All these were definitely alien to me. I just stared blankly at those equipment, completely lost and not listening to Mr Chan's explanation. I began to think that I had made a wrong, if not lousy choice for ECA. Wasn't photography just point and shoot? There was more to it than this apparently.

Then the typical mindset of mine set in. Skip ECA lah. But I still dragged myself to the club every Saturday, for the sake of earning ECA points. Photography is a really expensive hobby. And I only got to know it after Mr Chan asked me to get a camera, the SLR camera, that is. I thought, get loh, no big deal mah, just a camera. But I had forgotten that I was a student who had no part time job and no income. Desperate, I asked my big brother for help. Luckily he was also a bit interested in photography, so he bought my 1st SLR camera. I remembered it was Cosina, though I can't remember where is it now.

So I started to feel more and more like part of the club, participating in outings organised by some outside photography societies. Actually, it was just a few outings that I went to. Reason being, these outings were usually organised on a Sunday, and I usually can't wake up on time. Haha.

Then, like a bottomless pit, I started to buy more lenses, to open myself to more perspectives. Of course, it was my big brother who paid for them. Then came along the costs of buying films and developing fees. By then, I was really starting to feel the pain as I watched my pocket money depleting, because I didn't just shoot for the club, but for my other school projects as well.

Then, by sec 3, I had stopped going to the club altogether. I joined other ECA, choir, because some of my classmates were in there, and they participated in the SEA Games opening. Feeling vain and thinking that there might be such opportunities where I could participate in such big events, I joined. But that was purely for fun, and I was a soprano back then.

Anyways, I stopped photography until after "O" Levels, while waiting to be enrolled into Poly, I worked part time and quite suddenly, my passion for photography started to ooze from nowhere. I then, for the 1st time, purchased my 1st SLR camera, a Nikon FM10, using my own money. Ya I was proud because it cost me almost $500. I was still quite poor, remember?

During poly days, I would take pictures of the campus surroundings (my poly was quite a pleasant looking campus in those days), and even helped a friend for her project. So during that time, I was quite consistent. But after I graduated and started working, all came to a standstill, again.

Well, it wasn't as if I didn't think about photography. I was busy. And someone(I won't mention who) else deterred me from picking this hobby up again. Then I left the company and I met somebody who shares the same passion as I do. Luckily this fat guy encouraged and sometimes discouraged me from getting a DSLR. But I got one anyways. I was rich with no strings attached, so I bought my 1st DSLR camera, a Canon 350D. Nothing fancy as I considered myself to be a newbie in digital photography.

And talk about the advantages of going digital, hehe. No more buying of films and developing photos unnecessarily. Just shoot and save, delete if don't like. How convenient. But DSLRs are damned expensive. So are the other peripherals. But I am contented right now, with what I had.
But it is only until now that I can fully appreciate photography. The color, the composition, the feel... and lots more. I feel like this is the beginning and there is no way I am stopping now. Everytime I looked at my pictures, good or bad, I would think of how I could do better the next time.

Now I really feel that there IS something which I CAN do. I feel alive again.