When I was in eighth grade, my school received a grant to host a mini-museum. Our art teacher selected a photography exhibit, taking old black and white prints from a local bank and shooting the same locations and people in the current time. I was one of the principle photographers, and I was selected to be the curator for the museum exhibit. So began my love of black and white photography.

My parents supported my growing love for photography by purchasing a good starter camera for me, one recommended specifically by my art teacher. I was thrilled beyond words at their unspoken encouragement. However, photography was an expensive habit for a young teen, at least in the days before digital imagery. Film costs and developing added up. I knew our family wasn't wealthy, so I cut back on the number of images I shot. If our high school had offered a photography course, I would have taken it. It was a small school, though, and art classes meant all art media, at least for a freshman. I had no interest in drawing, painting or sculpture, so I never signed up for an art class. My parents divorced, and I stopped taking pictures all together. I didn't think my mom could afford to help me support my hobby, and though I was working, my money was spent on my car, insurance and the like.

Years passed, and I was busy being a college student, wife and then mother to three kids in less than five years. I still liked to compose an interesting shot, and digital made it easier, but I was so busy caring for everyone else that my hobbies and interests still fell to the wayside. I have been slowly getting back into photography for the last few years, and I feel the old passion and enjoyment returning with a vengeance finally. I've got a bee in my bonnet for a digital SLR camera; point and shoot just isn't cutting it anymore. The digital SLR has made it onto our priority purchase list, and I am excited.

It feels good to nurture something that is just for me again.