Let's start from the top.  When I was 17 years old, I first became interested in taking pictures.  For my Christmas present in 2004, my mom let me pick out a digital camera from a local electronics store.  I knew nothing about cameras at the time, but a 4 megapixel Nikon point & shoot caught my eye.  I left the store a very happy kid and started taking photos of my friends skateboaring nearly every chance I could get.