Why I Started Photography | Kayla Avella
Hi, I'm Kayla Avella, welcome to my tumblr blog about photography!
My photography journey started when I was in the 8th grade.
The year was 2010 and my mother had just gifted me my first camera as an early middle-school graduation gift. It was a small Samsung camera that was bright blue in color, simple and small enough to fit into the palm of my hand. It was perfect for me. I didn't know how to use any of the settings, but it didn't matter because it was finally a way for me to capture my own memories.
I brought that camera everywhere.
I took it to school where my friends and I would take photos before class started. I brought it to the mall, where we would try on dresses that we never intended to buy. I took it out on all my little neighborhood adventures that felt so big at the time. I even brought it with me to Taylor Swift's Fearless Tour.
At the time I wasn't thinking about photography as an art or a skill or something that I needed to master, I was just thinking about how fun it was to be able to document everything I was doing. I never wanted to forget anything.
There was a point in time when I eventually branched out from taking photos of just people. People were easy. They smiled and looked at the camera. I wanted to take photos of flowers at the park and the sun behind the trees. My first real attempt at taking scenic pictures came when we took a family vacation to Michigan. I finally found something beautiful to capture.
Many of my photos were blurry, poorly framed or didn't come out the way that I wanted. I treasure each of those "bad" photos because they were the beginning of my journey and a reminder that learning starts with an idea, and inspiration and an imperfection.
Even today, I still have a lot to learn about photography. While my skills have grown significantly I had a lot of learning to do before I can call myself a professional photographer.
I was just gifted a brand new Nikon camera for Christmas and intend on using it to its full potential soon.
I want to be able to share my photos, reflections in my sessions and lessons that I have learned. I hope that this gives someone inspiration to go out and take their own photos