Why photography he asks...scratches head I have asked myself that question before and I really can't put my finger on what makes me tick other then it is a passion that burns deep within me at times, and at other times, it just needed rekindling... I do remember my first camera, I was 13 or 14 and had a part time summer job... I can remember being so excited, going to the store with my father, he helped me pick out my first baby (which I still have btw) A 35mm Minolta... I learned it inside and out and there was nothing automatic about it. I took pictures of my horses, my dog, cat, sisters, family and friends. I even took my camera on vacation with me to Florida and took the classic vacation pictures. I was fascinated that I could capture a "scene" and have a printout of this... I moved to Florida in the early 80's and kind of lost interest in photography until I had my children, my love for creating images was reborn when I received a simple gift upon the birth of my first child, it was a simple camera, a Canon Sure Shot, just point and shoot! And shoot I did! I lost interest once again, as my husband had purchased a 35mm and started taking pix of the kids. I became his teacher, Showing him how to do different things, but my shooting days were over for a while. I once again purchased a new "state of the art digital camera" 1.2 megapixels, it stored images on a 3.5" file disk and I basically carried it around waiting for a shot to jump out at me... Well I carried it around for about six months or so and didn't take a single picture until one morning I had stopped while on the job to let someone answer a call of nature, and looked up and saw the most awesome sky, and I wondered what that sky looked like on film? Well that was the beginning of my third love affair and it hasn't stopped yet, that passion still burns within me... I am on my third digital camera now and still shoot film on occassion, still shooting skies and landscapes like there is no tomorrow. I would have to say that Sunscapes are my specialty, they are what I shoot best, they are what produces an emotional reaction in people, but I have also come to love macro work, abstracts and landscapes. Portraits are my weakness because I don't shoot them very often, overcoming that weakness is pretty simple I think, I just have to make myself shoot more of them. Artistic ability was never an issue with me either as I have always had a love for drawing. My mother was a major influence in art, as she is a wonderful artist. And my father is responsible for my love of photography, he has a serious collection of gorgeous images all captured on slide film. I tend to take my weaknesses and run with them. I appologize for the long response, maybe I should edit it? Brenda :)