Photography started for me as it did for most: my dad gave me his 30-year-old film camera and I loved every second of it. But I soon realized that I wanted to take different kinds of pictures–ones that were impulsive and of exactly what I saw at that instant, and this would be impossible with a heavy piece of equipment. I quickly traded the antique for something I could carry in the front pocket of my bag and promised myself that all those times I spent thinking about that one picture I hadn’t taken would never happen again. Armed with a new camera and back in my hometown for only a short while, here are some of the moments I would have regretted not capturing.

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More of Elena’s photographs can be seen here and here.