A/N: Hello, all. This is quick little something for Kristen that popped into my head this morning. A belated birthday fic, shall we say? Yes, let's. I hope you like it. :)
Dear journal,
I'm going to make this short because it's way past my bedtime and I haven't written anything in a while. Maybe I'm outgrowing you. I am almost 11 after all.
So, I have taken up photography.
Let's just add it to the long list of hobbies I've taken up over the years. As a toddler, baseball was one of my passions — or so mom and dad keep telling me. I don't remember much but that's to be expected. Pictures are the only real reminders from that time. Playing the piano, and classical music, in general, followed baseball; then perfume sniffing—wine tasting without the wine or tasting, as dad used to call it.
And now photography.
Believe it or not, Uncle Simon got me interested in the craft. Last month he dropped by for an extended visit and brought me a camera as a "souvenir" from California. Mom and dad didn't let me keep it because, well, it is Uncle Simon after all.
In the short time I had it in my possession, I took pictures of everything and anything. I loved it. It was a digital camera, of course; black, with an enormous lens, and pricey from what I found in my research. It's a shame I couldn't keep it but a short time after, dad bought me my own camera. It was smaller and not as cool as the one Uncle Simon brought but exciting just the same. I haven't stopped taking pictures since then.
Today was mom's birthday and I was given the task of taking pictures of the festivities. Quite a few people showed up, even Uncle Frasier who will also be staying with us for the weekend. I wish he'd brought Freddy along but he's off at grad school or something. We would have taken a lot of silly pictures. Maybe next time.
Earlier, after I'd imported the pictures into my computer, I spent more than an hour looking through the over one hundred snap shots. I edited some of them—cropping, minor color and lighting adjustments, etc.—and then added them to a sort of music video I'm making as a gift for mom.
Speaking of mom, she's impossible to photograph. I'd tell her to hold a pose for a second and just before I snapped the picture she would move. The image would come out blurry six times out of ten, but she still managed to look beautiful. I'm pretty sure dad would agree. It was kind of nauseating how he practically spent all evening drooling over that red dress she was wearing.
Parents.
Despite all the gross, mushy stuff—the kisses they would sneak while people weren't looking, the hand holding, the whispered I love yous—it was a fun party. The food was delicious, especially the chocolate cake that dad baked and I helped to decorate. The guests were pretty cool about posing for me, though I'm sure the wine and champagne had helped loosen them up. We even played party games, and I have to say, some of the night's funniest pictures came from a round of Twister. It doesn't get any funnier than a shot of Uncle Frasier, dad, and Aunt Ronee splayed on the mat after losing their balance at the beginning of the game. Maybe they're too old for those kinds of activities. You could see mom and our guests dying of laughter in the background.
I seriously can't wait to show her my little project; although I'm pretty sure she's going to post it on one of her social networking sites saying something or other about her "photographer son". That's okay; I like the sound of it. Maybe one day I will be a famous photographer. But for now, I'm just a kid with a camera.
A sleepy kid, at that.
Good night, journal. Talk to you soon.