I’ve been in Journalism for three years now. While I actually enrolled the class mainly to improve on my writing skills, I realized I have an appreciation for the multimedia side of journalism. I’ve become more familiar with shooting and editing video as well as photography, and enjoy them just as much as writing Observations and stories for the paper.

I must admit I’m a little slow when it comes to photography. It took me ages (about an entire year) to finally understand how to work DSLR cameras. Classmates of mine were shooting amazing pictures, while I was lucky to get anything close to decent. Nevertheless, I’m still interested in pursuing photography as a hobby.

For the last few months, I’ve been practicing at taking better pictures. I’ve mostly stuck to taking pictures of nature, abstract objects, and very recently, people.

I started off taking pictures of my two younger siblings, Salvador and Sofia. The two of them love being on camera whenever they get the chance. My family loved the way their pictures came out (a picture of Sal actually appeared in the 2010 fall photo exhibit), and then I thought to myself, why not try taking pictures of other people?

There are many people I would love to take portraits of. I don’t know why I do. Some of these people aren’t what most people would deem beautiful or model-like. Some of them are. Whatever the case is, they have something special in their appearance. Sometimes it’s their face structure, the way they make eye contact, or simply who they are as a person that makes them interesting to photograph.

However, I’m still quite the amateur photographer. Actually, that’s wrong. I don’t even consider myself a photographer in any sense. I am simply a girl who enjoys taking pictures of things as a pastime, but I lack too much experience and knowledge to say I’m experienced. Does that make sense?

Anyway, this is where I run into two problems. I want to pursue photography, especially with portraits. I know with some practice I can improve, so that’s not much of an issue.  My second problem, on the other hand, is a lot more troubling: how do I even ask these people if I can take their picture? I confided in a friend that I feel somewhat creepy for asking people if they’ll pose for me.

She tried to help me. “Honestly, how would you feel if someone came up and asked you for your picture because they thought there was something special about you?”

“Flattered,” I admitted. “Stuff like that doesn’t happen often.”

“See?! They won’t be creeped out, they’ll be honored.”

Still, it’s hard for me to find the words. What do I say?  “You have an interesting face; can I take your picture?”

What’s even worse is that I hardly know some of these people! A couple of them are actually teachers and adults, which makes it even more awkward than asking a peer.

I can only imagine what they’d think. Does Rebekah have the hots for me? No wonder she always sits in front. I always knew she was a creeper.

So, what am I supposed to do? Put aside my inhibitions for the sake of artistic advancement? Or continue to keep my ambition to be a better photographer to myself?

This is too much thinking for my teenage brain. Tell me what you think about my dilemma by leaving a comment, or sending a tweet to @rebekahrdz.