What shocked me is that the camera each of them own is not your ordinary digital cam. They use the state of the art digital camera that was being used by professional photographers. My friends all have a camera that has a long nose with high resolution optical lenses with a zooming capability that would mistake them as paparazzi.

Most of my friends were probably influenced by our friend who had just finished his photography lessons. My friends were definitely amazed of his high tech camera that made them interested on its features. Our curiosity was the first step in discovering the joys of photography. We did not know then that a mere curiosity would lead us to a whole different world that we would never dream of exploring if not for photography.

It started with simple portrait shots. Taking pictures every now and then. It made us even more excited and more curious. We started to practice on how to focus the camera effectively without losing balance and afterwards we honed our zooming ability using the camera. The shot I have taken at first were not that good but after some time I started to appreciate the improvement I have made. The picture that I had taken became clearer and more detailed. After a few days of using the SLR of my friends I started to enjoy what I was doing and finally bought my own. They said this was their plan all along to get me hooked on it. I would have been mad at them back then but now I was more than happy to be a victim.

After a weeklong practice my friends and I decided that we are now ready to embark on our journey to be a professional photographer. After doing some portrait photography we are now ready to advance and make a transition to be a landscape photographer. We all decided to go on a trip to hone our talents and the place we chose was a tourist destination that features a good view of nature, with its beautiful forests, wild life and atmosphere.

The experience was totally breath taking. I could not have asked for a better place to take pictures. That was the first time that I felt something different. I could not explain in words what it was. I just felt it and it was great. Photography made us appreciate the beauty of things whether how small or how big they are. Being able to see the beauty within of every living thing gives you a feeling of fulfillment. Photography did change how I see things. I no longer take things for granted because now I could see every detail and wholeness of everything that I saw. People should try photography more because it would make them more appreciative of things. In this way they could value the magnificence of this world