I have flirted with photography for over 40 years. My father first introduced me to the art when I was around 10 years old. As that was back in the days of film, he would have me show him that I had a potentially good photo to take, by framing my hands around my subject, before I was allowed to shoot. We used a Nikon F fully manual camera which really helped with understanding the technical elements that go into photography. The shift to digital was initially a challenge for me as it took a while for me to see photoshop (and other programs) as the new darkroom. I still sometimes find myself planning my shots to limit how many I take as I did back in the days of film. As my daughter has gotten older (I've been a stay at home mom for the last 15 years or so) I have been able to take more classes and devote myself more to developing my photography skills.