in_a_blink photography: School's out.

It went by a little too fast. I know, I can't believe I just said that, but it's true. It's hard to believe that just five years ago, I was graduating from high school. One year ago, graduating from college. Two years from now, graduating from law school. How did I get here? Plenty of people ask me that, and to be honest, I don't know.

My camera is sitting next to my computer. Just sitting. It makes me yearn. Is law what I'm supposed to be doing? Who the hell knows the answer to that question? I know I don't. I know I love being behind the camera, capturing moments in people's lives, but I also know that I love learning (& even the law). Maybe four years of college just was not enough for me to truly find myself. (Although, I doubt anyone ever stops trying to figure themselves out).

About a week ago, Thor Christensen (from GuideLive - a part of The Dallas Morning News) wrote a piece asking the question whether cellphones are ruining the concert experience. He quoted Sleater-Kinney (first of all, can someone please tell me who in the hell that is?) as saying "There's definitely a problem where people are so busy documenting the moment that they forget to just live in the moment." I can understand where he is coming from, which I think is why I love photography so much. It is my opportunity to document those moments so the person does not have to. But, at the same time, I nearly always have some form of a camera on me - whether it is my 2.0 megapixel that I have on my phone or my Canon PowerShot or my Nikon D70. I have not forgotten how to live in the moments that define my life, nor do I live in the past. But, these photographs that line my walls, shelves, pages of scrapbooks, etc. take me back to a time and a feeling. It could be the excitement I felt on the sidelines of football games my junior year of high school. Or how much I really did hate frat parties my freshman year of college. Or the laughter that consumed me and my friends when we ditched the Rangers game last summer and just played drinking games all night.

Cameras are not in place to detract from a person's living the moment, but rather to enhance the feeling for years to come.

So, in honor of this. I present some personal photos from long ago as well as present.