The summer I was ten, my parents scheduled my sisters and I in several summer programs. Tennis was one of them, because it was my sport of choice and it was just a continuation of my lessons with some extra group activities thrown in. And then there was the photography class.

I liked the photography class because it was in an air conditioned building (as opposed to the sun scorched tennis courts). I honestly don’t remember much about the classes that would be of use to me today. I remember we had one camera on a tripod and everyone lined up to take pictures of one person, then we would switch out and a new person would sit in front of the camera and the rest of us would file by and press the shutter button. Did we learn about aperture or shutter speed? Did we learn about focus, depth of field, or ISO?

Got me! I don’t remember those technicalities. I think this class was simply on the magic of the darkroom, where the negatives were transformed into images on Kodak paper. I remember the smell of the chemicals, the giggling over the darkness (we were 10!) and trying to tell if we were doing it right.

Of the ten or so I still have, the picture above is my favorite. It reminds me of my goofiness, that everything doesn’t come out perfect, and we have choices in the direction our art takes us. Today I use Picnik and photoshop to “develop” my pictures and sometimes I still giggle, as if I was ten and in that darkroom again.

For more other best shots, visit Tracey’s blog and look over the comments.

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