My parents bought me my first camera, a Canon Powershot A500 series, when I was a college student spending a semester in Spain. We paid a ridiculous amount of money for a 512 MB SD card, which helped me take a lot of photos and not worry about film. This was the start of my photography journey! I have no formal training whatsoever, I just like to have fun and record memories.
Next I got a crash course in wildlife photography with a week long trip to Ecuador and the Galápagos. It was a great place to learn because the animals on the islands have no natural predators and will just stand there next to you while you photograph them. During this trip, I started to think more about channeling my grandfather, who was an avid amateur nature photographer.
I really got into photography because I am a scrapbooker. I came back from the week-long Galápagos trip with hundreds of images, which I then made into a beautiful scrapbook.
Boobies and frigatebirds. I cut out some pictures so I could fit more on a page. 
Ecuador highlands; my grandpa was a nature photographer, so I tried to imitate the kind of pictures he would take.
We were gifted a Canon Powershot SD870 for our wedding, which I used to take pictures on our vacations for many years. Returning to Europe was particularly fun because I could practice what I’d learned since Spain, with slightly nicer equipment.
Starting in 2015, I’ve stopped using digital cameras entirely and just use my phone to take photos. The convenience is worth the relatively low quality (funny considering that my phone has a better camera than that first Powershot did). Since I’m not traveling anywhere at the moment, I’m trying to find inspiration around my home (not hard with two kids to photograph!)
So, here I am, meandering along on my photography journey, learning more from my fellow Lens-Artist participants every week. I have grown a lot as a photographer since that first camera and trip to Spain; someday I hope to find time to make scrapbooks for all these photos I am taking!
Jedi by Knight 
I love that your parents encouraged your journey and what a fun idea to gift you a camera to use on your honeymoon! Phone cameras have come such a long way they really do offer a viable alternative these days Mei Mei. If you’d told me some of your images were made that way I might not have believed you! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
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My mom was a professional photojournalist and my dad’s dad was the nature photographer, so I get it from both sides haha. The camera was a brilliant gift, so useful.
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Do you do a photo a day project? I started one on a whim in college once, and now it’s been almost 8 years of daily photos. I had no aspirations to become A Photographer, but I occasionally am lol. It’s amazing what simple consistent practice will do! Love the lens challenges to focus (ha!) your skills in a certain way to get creative. Thanks for sharing your journey 😊
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That is awesome! I’ve never done a photo a day project but it sounds like a really cool idea. Practice is really the key to any skill like that.
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Thank you for sharing your journey, Mei-Mei. I carried Canon Powershot for years when we traveled. I simply wanted to record memories. Like you, I now enjoy my iPhone 11. I love the images you took with your smart phone.
You made a correct link to my post, it hasn’t appeared there yet. But I’m so glad I found you through WP Reader.
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Links have been kinda wonky recently, huh? Glad you found it through the reader. I loved both the Canon Powershots I had. My husband convinced me to switch to using my phone when I saw the quality of his photos on one vacation (we have always had the same phones lol).
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I liked your maple leaf shot. Cameras on a phone work great!
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Thank you! My phone is definitely my go-to
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Beautiful photos! I love the turtle! (Tortoise?)
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Yes, tortoise! One of the famous Galápagos tortoises, whose different shells from island to island showcase Darwin’s theory of natural selection as the mechanism for evolution.
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being a scrap booker could really launch the photo journey
and it is crazy cool how smart phones(esp apple) have these amazing cameras
and these little computers we keep in out pockets
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Indeed! I am amazed how I ever lived without it haha
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😊☀️
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