Paparazzo, That's Me

I was watching my favorite show (nope, not ashamed to admit I'm obsessed with America's Next Top Model) the other day, and Tyra mentioned that Paparazzo is the Italian word for mosquito. You know, those little blood sucking sneak attackers that settle on your skin when you least expect them and then leave their puffy mark? I think it's fitting.

Although I would never want anyone finding me a pest with a camera, I operate in much the same way as the little bugger. I carry my Nikon with me whenever I can. I keep spare batteries charged. I have multiple SD cards just in case the opportunity for thousands of shots presents itself. I "see in pictures" and mentally frame everything with my eyes as I consider what kind of shot what I'm seeing would make.

My family jokes (behind my back and to my face) that I have photos of everything... and I do. You'll never catch my kids asking "what did I look like when I was..." insert age or event at the elipse. No one can ever say that they don't remember what ... looked like when ... if I was at the event.

Of course this means that I get invited to functions because the hosts hope for pictures. Can you believe I actually had someone get mad because I didn't have my camera once?

I enjoy being the "Nutty Photographer". I take it as a compliment that my uncle said I have "surgically attached [my] camera to [my] forehead." And I'm taking this phototherapy serious. I think I see improvement from the photos I took with my first point and shoot digital camera purchased in 2003 when Chi was three months old. I am steadily progressing in my style and my skill with every photo. So though I hear the snickers and comments about my photo OCD, I also know that those same people have "borrowed" my images for their own use countless times (and I'm working on not being offended by the inadvertent failure to acknowledge "Nice photo" comments with "Thanks, my Sister/Cousin/Neice took it."

I am the family mosquito... if I buzz by, I leave you with a memory in the form of a photograph. I stop time with my camera. Someday, you'll be grateful you got stung.