30 Posts in 30 Days: Day 9: A photo you took

This category made me laugh. What photos HAVEN'T been taken by me??

Over the past 25 years, and with dh's family in particular, I've gained the reputation as the family photographer. BIL & SIL freely admit they would have no photos of their children if it were not for me; I'm sure I've taken 98% of the photos of those two boys that exist.

I've only ever had a point & shoot camera, but I like taking photos, & I think I've improved as a photographer over time. I can't fathom NOT taking photos of your kids on their first day of school or Halloween or birthdays, but apparently it doesn't always occur to some people. (???)

In pre-digital days, of course, people didn't take as many photos as they do today -- but nevertheless, my past is probably as well documented as any other child of the 1960s & 1970s was. Both my mother & (especially) my grandmother were prone to saying, "Get the camera!" whenever a photo-worthy moment presented itself to be captured. In fact, my grandmother gave both my sister & me our first cameras, as presents for Christmas 1976, when I was 15 -- a Kodak Instamatic X15, which took 126 film cartridges & used flipflashes (see photo, left).

I took the photo above with that camera, in the summer of 1977, of my two cousins, who were 12 & 11 at the time (they're both in their mid-40s now, & the one on the left is a grandfather of two), outside our grandmother's house. I don't remember where they got the kittens from -- one of the neighbours, I think -- but it's always been a favourite shot of mine & I always thought it was a pretty well taken photo, considering the technology. I scanned it & removed the scratches but it's otherwise unenhanced.