I first held a camera my sophomore year in high school in photography class.  It was just an elective, and there really wasn’t any real teaching going on (either that I wasn’t learning).  Needless to say, I was let down by the class.  About 2 years later, I went to a friend’s cotillion and observed the photographer (a close friend and now mentor) all day.  I eventually bugged her with enough questions to become her “assistant” for the day, and any other day she needed me.  She’d just hand her camera over, mostly in church services, and I’d shoot.  I wasn’t very good, but the love affair had begun.  I found that I loved to capture candid moments that everyone around me was too occupied to notice.  Since then I have a camera of my own and I’ve gotten much better.  Every day is a new learning experience, but I’m having a blast!