Two thousand four was the year I started to get serious about photography. I was still shooting with whatever cameras I had available instead of seeking out the best equipment I could get, but I’d started to examine my composition, my framing, the shapes I tried to capture, and photography started to appeal more and more to me.

I still remember vividly the day I took most of these photos. I’d just made a momentous decision, one which had troubled me for months, and after getting it over with, I felt the need to relax, so I went outside. It was a gorgeous spring day. The birds were chirping in the trees, the sun bathed everything in soft, warm light, and I felt at peace. Even though I was under tremendous stress, I knew everything would turn out alright. I shut every stray thought out and focused solely on the beautiful images I was seeing in nature. After an hour of walking and taking photos here and there, I was fully relaxed and ready to take on the things that would come my way.

The photos were taken with an Elura 40 MC (a Mini DV camera from Canon that took 1024×768 photos) and an Olympus C3000Z, a wonderful camera (for its time) which took wonderful and clear photos as long as it had enough light and the ISO stayed under 400.