19/365 Photo Walk #1

This morning while my son was in preschool, I strolled through town and took pictures of whatever caught my eye. In what was at first a pretty embarrassing turn, at pick up this afternoon, one of the other moms said, "Did I see you walking through town with a camera this morning?"

I said "yes," felt the need to qualify and stumbled over a lot of "Oh, I was just goofing off. I don't really know how to take a picture," and "I'm just trying to teach myself some basics," etc. It's really unnerving to be caught out in public with a camera when you truly don't know the first thing about taking a picture and your camera is on "auto." You (and by "you," I mean, clearly, "I") feel like a grade A poser out there, snapping pictures and wondering if you have any natural talent or if your time wouldn't be better spent at home doing another load of laundry and planning a few more meals.

But the other mom just chuckled and said, "Well, you looked so happy out there!" and continued on with her son to their car. And it made me realize that, while I felt a bit awkward, walking through town with my camera around my neck and stopping to take pictures at store fronts and church yards, I actually was really happy. Being behind a camera and seeing through the lens and then seeing what I've seen reflected back at me on the screen, does make me happy.