Back in 2002 while still in college and without a car, I spent the entire summer as a bicycling babysitter (I called it "freelance childcare"). I saved all my money, and paid for a one-week workshop at the Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport.

I was so out of my element. I wasn't used to striking up conversations with random strangers of all ages and backgrounds. I had never experienced a real artistic community outside of my friends at college. It was so refreshing to see such a broad spectrum of people excited about the same things I was.

We shot entirely on slide film (my teacher was Frank LaVelle), handing over our rolls at the end of the day, where they would be developed overnight. We'd see our images the next day. I had never shot digital before; it was so miraculous to see my images so soon after shooting.

When I look back at my slide work, it makes me want to order a case of film and go shooting. It's too bad I have a case of 120 black and white film to work through at the moment (I've been shooting with my Diana for the past month).