One Pretty Thing

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments and emails over the last couple days. The fact that you took enough time to share your thoughts, solutions and experiences around S.A.D., depression and lack of sunshine is truly touching.

For now, on to other things...

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For a couple semesters in college I was enrolled in photography classes. I had this whole idea of an easy grade based on my "artistic" eye and rumors that the teacher was looking for a new job and therefore handed out A's like the dentist hands out toothbrushes.

I dug up an old Canon from the garage, bought some film and photo paper (and plenty of other supplies I would later sell mostly unused) and skipped off to the dream class that I was counting on to balance out Organic Chemistry- Easy A vs. Kill-me A. Do I use Organic Chemistry now? No, of course not. But I'll be darned if I wasn't getting an A anyway. You say obsessive, I say, okay, you're right but I could have totally justified it then.

Anyway, going into Photography 101, I knew absolutely nothing about anything. Hello, I was from the 80's and 90's- the Point-N-Shoot generation. What use did I have for lenses? Aperture? Exposure? Bah! Snapshots ruled! Needless to say, I was ill prepared.

That first semester was a little rough. I soon realized, photography was not going to be my game, much less, a profession. I mean, in addition to taking the photos there was all that darkroom work and I tell you, not one cute guy in the class. Also, I'm of the firm belief that you don't need to do much math to get through life if you don't want to and though I tried to block it out, I think math stuck it's little ornery nose in there a few times. I was already irritated enough that Organic Chemistry was nothing but math disguised as science, I didn't need to do math with my camera, too.

So a year later and a pile of black and whites I'd only show to people who already love me for other talents, I gave up my pursuit of photography. I also gave up all math disguised as science, but that's another story. Mostly.

A couple years ago, I got my first digital camera for my birthday. It was a non-fancy but perfectly capable little Kodak whose pictures I've shared with everyone I know, including right here on this blog. It's been everywhere with me and, as you might remember, even spent a good amount of time in a rental car at the SeaTac airport. Over the last couple years, I've had good fun with this camera and up until about six months ago, never thought I needed anything more. Then, I started looking around. People, some who are pros and some like me, are taking fantastic pictures out there. What's more, they're taking pictures of the exact places and things I am and they look about a thousand times better. It started to feel unfair. Though I knew I had a lack of interest in traditional photography, I was now exposed (heh) to the digital SLR world. Ahh, what a wonderful world it is.

So I started researching. And researching some more. And hitting up some photographer friends. And visiting camera shops. And asking other bloggers* about their cameras and, subsequently, they would write entire posts about it for me. (Okay, it wasn't really for me only but I'm going to pretend it was because it sounds better. It is my goal to always make things sound better because, after all, I can't do math.)

Finally, a few days ago, I made a decision. My new pretty is a Nikon D40. I made this choice for several reasons: one, I had no previous equipment so I needed more than just the camera body. Two, it just so happened I walked into my local camera shop on the day they were having a semi-secret two-day sale and got 25% off the little bugger. I got a deal and if anything makes me happier than getting something I want that's going to entertain me for hours, it's not paying retail for it.

Now, I'm your standard-level obsessed newbie photographer... and then some. Just ask my dog, she's super tired of all the posing. Apparently, it's inconvenient and interrupts the time she spends watching nothing out the window and then barking at that same nothing incessantly.

You know how it goes, though. Everything becomes subject. First, you start with things that no one will ever care to see.

Like a picture of your dinner:

And the obligatory eight hundred or so self portraits:

This isn't a good representation of me. In reality, I usually wear twice as much fleece.

.

Then, you move on to things in your house:

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And other inanitmate things that you think are "cool":

Sometimes, you point the camera in a direction and think it's going to be perfect, and then it turns out just blah:


Other times, you just try too hard and cut off the top of a head:


.
And maybe once every hundred shots or so, you get lucky:



But not to worry, you're having fun. And sooner or later, it's just going to be one pretty thing...

Flowers at Grandma's house.

After another...

People bring her flowers quite often. If you met her, you'd know why.

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*Thanks to Bre for her camera info and knowledge and thanks in advance to her for putting up with me in my future camera dork out moments!