I WAS GOING THROUGH OLD PHOTOS THE OTHER DAY. Specifically, the ones from the trip Kevin, his mother Sue, and their friend Kim and I took to California last November.

I made one request before we left – that I would be permitted to take at least 500 photos while we were gone.

500. I was really limiting myself there, wasn’t I?

At the end of each day I’d unload my memory card and realize I’d taken hundred of photos every single day. My camera shutter just wasn’t fast enough to capture every single moment and freeze it in time like I would prefer. I took photos of everything – the drive, the buildings, the scenery, The Zoo, Universal Studios, us, billboards, street signs. I took photos of food, hotels, practically nothing was safe from the constant click of my Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H20.

I love and treasure the photos I took.

But for some reason, I love the ones Kim and Kevin took even more. There’s just something about seeing a memory through someone elses’ eyes. It forces you to look at things from a new perspective, to pick up details you might not have noticed.

I ran across this photo on Kevin’s FaceBook late last night. It was our last full day of vacation and we were lunching at In-N-Out Burger on San Diego Bayside. The sky was blue and  you could see the masts of yachts bobbing in the harbor across the street. I know he was meaning to take a photo of the biblical reference on the bottom of his cup, but I find it amusing (and somewhat cute) that it took one of me instead. I’m a very plain photographer. I never follow the rule of thirds, everything is always centered and smiling in the pictures I take. But I love the authenticity of this one. How I didn’t know it was being taken, how I’m looking down and it only shows half of my profile.  That’s just me, wearing my swim suit underneath my clothes, with the typical hair scrunchy on my wrist. That’s me, looking down to eat the crunchiest fries first.

That’s me, an hour before we drove to the beach at Coronado Island and threw ourselves into the freezing cold ocean.