My first iPhone was the 3GS. I purchased it around the fall/winter of 2009. I remember all of my friends were so excited when I told them that I had finally grabbed the device. At the time, I wasn't sure why. We all had Samsung Instinct's and this phone didn't seem much different. I didn't know who Steve Jobs was nor was I aware of the history of Apple. I didn't see this device changing the world I was just a kid who needed a new phone.

Fast forward to 2010 and I found out the iPhone 4 was dropping. I was a bit upset because just 6 months ago I had purchased this phone. During this time of my life I wasn't used to new devices dropping every year, in the past, you got a phone and you kept it until it broke. If you had the Motorola i860 you didn't camp out for the i870,at least I didn't.

I did extensive research to see if AT&T would fix this, this research led me down to a path that I'll never forget. I began to read up on Apple, watch Steve Jobs press conferences and understood why this device was so important. I purchased a Macbook, an iMac, Apple TV... I was hooked. I wanted my devices to be intuitive and I quickly became a fan of this brand.

When the 4s dropped I was a bit bummed out that the update was so minuscule. I wasn't aware that the "S" lineup didn't benefit the design of the iPhone, but for whatever reason, I still wanted to upgrade. I couldn't be the person with the old iPhone is something I use to always tell myself and though I said so jokingly deep down inside I really meant it.

When I purchased the iPhone 4s it was simply because the phone was cool, it had Siri, which was a cool feature and I wanted to be modern, to fit in, to be cool. What I didn't realize is how much the camera would have an affect on me.

At this time of my life, I was never considered a creative, when Apple announced the 8MP camera I could care less. I mean it was cool, clearer pictures, yay! But I never really knew what that meant.

My job around this time in my life was reselling shoes. Actually, fun fact, RIVALSvs.com (my old/current domain) was actually created to sell shoes online. My photos were all stock photos, but the ones I advertised on Twitter and Instagram were taken on my iPhone. As you've probably guessed by now this unimportant update to the phone quickly became a big part of my life.

I don't tell this story often but the iPhone is what got me interested in photography, no it's not the reason I picked up a DSLR or a Mirrorless camera years down the road but it was my first foray as creative. I remember worrying about composition back then and editing my pictures with the best HDR app available. It was a real thing for me, I wasn't just snapping photos, there were real life decisions being made. Because of this phone, my business started to grow, as did my fan base. Those pictures helped me sell a lot of shoes.

From that point on when Apple released a new phone, it was no longer about the coolness factor. It was about the camera. I wanted to know what the updates were, my interest grew from the rear camera to the front facing camera and so did the rest of the world.

iPhone 7 in Street Photography