Christmas 2002 brought me a new toy - a Sony Cybershot DSC S85. It was the most high tech thing I think I had ever seen! It had a Carl Zeiss lens, whatever that was! It was the most amazing camera I had ever laid my eyes on! And wait... it was a Sony? This was 2002 - what was Sony doing making cameras?!? This was a time where technology companies started creeping into the photography market. For a time, I think they won, especially Sony. It's a pretty level playing field these days, but back then, this was unknown territory. What did camera companies know about technology? What did tech know about taking pictures? That would be a research paper in and of itself.

This camera ultimately led me to who I am today. Four days after I received this camera, my final child was born. This camera captured every moment of my 3 kids existence until I realized I needed more control over a camera's functionality. This camera was the base and could be extended through extensions on the lens like macro and fisheye and it served me well. I began to try taking "studio" pictures of my kids which led me to learn more about portraits. It took amazing landscape shots (which was my first true photography passion). I was set for life with this, or so I thought...