I love photographing people with cameras that are older than me. I take out my TLR camera and it’s the topic of conversation. Before I began busting it out on shoots, I took it with me when I was around the people that have to put up with me on a regular basis: my family. These are far from perfect since you can tell I was still getting used to metering correctly and composition is a tad off, but who cares! These are by far some of my favorite memories of the year.

I’ve stepped up my game this year by capturing more of my family on film. I had to be intentional about it, it’s not always effortless. And yet, I can look back at these squares and know exactly what was happening at the moment—the memories rush back to me: how I felt, the laughter in between the shutter click, the soothing sounds of the waves as they crashed into my feet, the dolphins entertaining us with their tricks, the giggling of kids in the playground—everything feels so real. But what I have learned from my personal work has been that there is no separation between personal and professional work.

I discovered that all my work is in fact, personal. I put myself in every frame I shoot. My voice, my beliefs, everything that compels me to photograph is wrapped up in the film.