the beginning of my foray into photography

"So my question is, or what I'm hoping you'll share, is when you first picked up a camera? Any memories, anecdotes, and certainly details (what kind of camera? did you buy the camera or was it a gift? what did you shoot? did you save the picture?) about that first experience. Do you remember your first picture? I'd love to hear about it."
Inspired by Courtney Eldridge and her Saccades Project, here's a recap of the beginning of my foray into photography:

All of my cameras (I have three but mostly only use one, and it's my first) have been given to me, since I don't exactly have the money/income to buy one for myself. The first camera I got was in the summer of 2008. I remember this because it was first year I went to Beijing (though I've been to many other parts of Asia every summer(, and at the time, there was all the hype about the Beijing Olympics.

Also, it was my birthday present from my cousin. Right before I got my first camera, I somehow became very interested in the idea of capturing a moment--photography. Those feelings were always present--I'd always wanted to have a tool that could capture whatever I wanted. I remember going on summer travels years before, being very disappointed I couldn't keep a memento of those places.

And as I grew older, my eyes seemed to change and they started becoming aware of the vast world above our heads--the sky. The sky was my first inspiration--the one thing that truly made me angry when I didn't/don't have a camera. I would see beautiful, ethereal clouds and skies, gorgeous sunsets, the shining moon, and I would end up being crestfallen that I couldn't record those moments with something like a camera. Of course, I realize how silly I actually was--to take a stellar shot of the moon is much harder than I realized, hahaha!

The moon has always had a strange appeal to me--maybe it's because I read about it being my birth planet (I'm a Cancer, June 30, 1994) as a child, or maybe it's because it's my birth planet that I feel some sort of inexplicable fixation to it, but I was madly captivated by it, especially on the nights of full moons where they was cast an unnaturally white light over the ground, gleaming with a celestial sheen.

So I guess that I was predominantly influenced by nature in my first forays into photography. Now? Well, now, that's a slightly different story, though I still find immense happiness in shooting at the sky. I just don't do it as often as I did before, which often saddens me.

I was sad to realize that I didn't have anything to capture the beautiful things I saw in my life.

But getting back to my first camera... (and the camera I still use most of the time): Fujifilm Finepix F50fd. A digital point and shoot. In the summer of 2008, my cousin was preparing to go to Asia (she does it annually). She asked me what I wanted for my 14th (?) birthday (I'm 15 now and will be turning 16 in June). I unabashedly told her that I wanted a camera, though I didn't expect that she would actually buy me one! (When she came back with the camera, I was extremely surprised and happy). Ah, never say never, huh? A classic example of why you shouldn't be afraid of a 'no.'
----
The first photograph of mine, gee, I don't quite remember. It was either the sky or a portrait of my friend on the day of my birthday when we were at the movies, since there was a life-size (hah) statue of the Incredible Hulk on display. But I'm not too sure. Quite clearly, I didn't save the first shot. (Actually, I think I did--it's on my old computer. I'll look it up later). I do remember that I started off with color, and most of my shots are still predominantly color. While I do like black and white photography, I feel more comfortable with color. And color is just too vital of an aspect to a lot of the things I photograph--it gives a distinguishing character to the subjects.