I’ve been taking photos of the people and places around me for as long as I can remember. When I was in the fifth grade, I got my first camera: a point and shoot Nikon that probably wasn’t worth more than $30. But the price of the camera never mattered. The brief moments and memories I captured had much more value. Over the course of the nine years since then, I’ve obviously gotten some better gear. I’ve amassed my own little collection of old film cameras, lenses, and film stocks, as well as my own ideology for taking the “perfect” photo. I love being able to capture a split second of nature, despite all of its volatility.

I don’t only enjoy taking photos of landscapes, though. When I started writing a year ago, I began to fall in love with the idea of capturing human emotion as well. I started taking my camera with me everywhere. I constantly observe the interactions of my friends and family so I can find the perfect moment to take a quick snapshot of the beauty of human emotion. Some people throw their heads back a certain way when they laugh, and other people’s eyes light up when they get happy. The little moments like this hold so much meaning to me, and I love being able to look back on a shot from a few years ago and let all the emotion come flooding back.

Photography is one of my only passions, and it’s one of the few things I feel proficient at in life. My friends and family frequently come up to me asking me to take photos for their next birthday party, or they tell me to make sure I bring my camera next time we see each other. Every time I get more film developed, we gather around and have a blast looking back at moments we might otherwise have forgotten about. These little moments that fade so quickly from our memories hold much more power than we initially believe, and I think that capturing them is crucial.