Smile! I say to my younger sister as I catch her dancing to the radio. I quickly snap the photograph and wait for it to appear on the digital screen of my camera. There it is a curly haired eleven year old dancing like a wild maniac. I show her the picture then we both almost die of laughter. Side by side, we take numerous pictures, some of our cat, two of the huge oak tree outside in our front yard, and even a couple of a little red wagon that we found in an old playground.

When I take pictures I feel as if I’m weightless on the moon. No worries, no doubts, and no fears. Almost like the whole world is frozen except for my camera and I. No one can take this feeling away from me, because everyone has their own. I love it when I catch a person off guard, and they just happen to be making a funny face in the mirror, or even before they put their make-up on in the morning.

Whenever I look back at all of the pictures that I’ve taken over the past thirteen years, I think of them as memories. If I did drugs, then I probably wouldn’t have the energy let alone the brain power to operate a camera. I’d become a bum who sits on the couch all day eating Cheetos, and wondering what I should do with my life. I don’t now about you but I love my brain and my body and I don’t want to ruin it just for five minutes of pleasure when I can live my whole life knowing that my natural high is taking photographs. I’d also love to be able to take photographs when I’m one hundred.