Michelle Cox

I saw my first digital camera in the early '90s. It was black and white and you could barely make out the image but I knew I wanted one some day. I wasn't a photographer; I just thought it was cool. Fast forward to 2000 and I finally got myself a digicam, with much improved quality over that early version. From there, I started learning about photography and it became a hobby. I mostly shot nature back then along with miscellaneous other stuff. I honestly wasn't any good at it, even for a beginner, but I had a lot of fun.

In 2002 I discovered that we have a camera club and joined at the summer picnic at Jerry B.'s house. I started learning more from attending meetings and going on outings with members. I also got very involved in the club nearly from the start. There weren't as many folks on the leadership team back then. No secretary, no membership director, no newsletter editor, and no website so no website admin. I announced I was building the club a site and started doing the other roles along with it. That lasted a few years but it got to be too much after I had kids and so the roles got broken up and assigned to different people with me mostly just doing the website. That seems to be changing again as I'm back as secretary and am planning to pick up the newsletter again.

In 2005 I had my first child and discovered my love of photographing children. Again, I wasn't very good at it for a long time but I kept practicing and this time I got much better. I even toyed with going into business for a while in 2014 but it turns out I am way better at photography than business and so it remains a hobby. My favorite subject is young children at play. I don't like posing; I like catching them in the act. They are all natural and innocent and so much fun. Unfortunately, my kids have grown to teens and so have their friends so my supply of children ran out. I've gone back to my roots shooting nature and just general stuff. Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten much better in those subjects so it's more about enjoying nature with a side of photography.

These days I spend more time working on the camera club website than photography. It's been a real labor of love but it's coming along nicely. I hope you like it.