My first taste of photography

So I found this photo.

Me at age 11 in 1992 or 1993. Oversized shirt, khaki shorts, braided belt, huge glasses, helmet (because safety) and large padded camera bag containing a cheap Kodak and several rolls of Kodak 35mm. I was obsessed.

It’s of me and my first camera taken during a huge trip Washington D.C. I was in 5th grade, and I was mega proud to be there with all the other Safety Patrols (I assume from my school district).

It was a pretty big deal to me. I don’t remember much about the trip or the camera, except that it was my first experience photographing a new place and probably one of my first trips without my parents.

At the time, I had just purchased my first C+C Music Factory cassette, which I’d proudly explained to my dad was “rap” music; graduated to Webelos in Cub Scouts; was terrified of Little League and “swim team”; and was actually great at classical piano until hormones told me to pick up guitar in middle school.

On this trip I think I exposed something l like 6 rolls of film. I shot everything from the Lincoln Memorial to my friends inside the Smithsonian, posing like clowns in front of life-sized Neanderthals and dinosaurs.

That’s all I’ve got today, just a geeky old photo and the fun memories it conjured.