Patience is not something that I have a lot of (just ask my family). I get frustrated easily when things don’t happen the way I want them to, or as quickly as I want them to. I want what I want and I want it right now! My biggest want right now is a DSLR camera. I haven’t narrowed down the exact model yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ll go with a Canon when the time comes. Photography is my latest obsession and while I still don’t really know what I’m doing, I get enough good shots that I want a better camera. It’s a big purchase and one that is hard to justify when money is as tight as it is. Plus, I still have so much to learn and am not sure I’m far enough into it to justify the cost either. The whole thing just seems so far out of reach, but I know if I stretch far enough I’ll get there some day. I just have to have patience – and a plan.
For now, my short-term plan is to save as much as I can. If you see ads popping up on my web sites, this is why. All advertising money I make is being saved up in my PayPal account for my new camera. It is trickling in slowly, but it’s a start. A couple months ago when I had my surgery (and was in need of a pick-me-up) I decided to spend everything that I had saved for some new lenses to extend the abilities of my current camera (a Canon Powershot S5 IS). It satisfied the want for a while, but now I’m back to wanting the DSLR and starting all over with the saving. I’ve listed my guitar on craigslist again to see if I get any bites on it and am trying to come up with other things I can sell for a little money.
The other part of my plan is to learn as much as possible while I’m saving. I could spend hours upon hours just looking at beautiful photos, but I need to get beyond the “wow” and start figuring out how the photographer pulled off that amazing shot. I need to learn more about manual settings, finding the perfect lighting, and posing. I also need to figure out how to get a 20 month old child to hold still for more than one second (any tips on that would be very welcome).
This weekend was one of those that had me sitting around wishing and longing for the day when I have the camera I want in my hands. It was absolutely beautiful outside. The sun was shining, it was warm, and I spent most of the day Saturday outside with the kids. First was a birthday party for a day care friend, then we played outside until it started getting dark (which came entirely too early). The kids had a blast and I really enjoyed experimenting and taking tons of photos. When I cleaned off my camera card later, I had taken nearly 400 photos. I also discovered that my hard drive I store my photos on is completely full. Guess I’ll have to deal with that soon!
I spent much of the weekend dreaming, formulating, and contemplating. I want this to be a real thing. I don’t want to give up on it like so many of my other hobbies. I’m thinking of all the possibilities that this photography thing could open up. I keep going back to how much fun I have with a camera in my hands. I think I might finally know what I want to be when I grow up. And it’s scary. I still have a lot of growing to do.
And even if my hubby laughs at me while I experiment, at least I can still get him to pose for me now and then. Now all I need is a little more patience.
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