Photography....my journey so far

I have had an interesting time of it so far.  I have had an interest in photography for a very long time.  I used to do photo shoots with my sister and friends growing up.  I had little 35mm cameras along the way that took really pitiful pictures, but that did NOT deter me.  Plus, I really didn't know any better.  I think the first time I really put any kind of effort into taking pictures in a specific way was when I was in 10th grade (I think it was that year...anyone is welcome to correct me if I am wrong!).  It was in Coach Clay's history class.  He gave us the assignment to go and take pics of historical sites and put together a sort of album.  I got to borrow a kodak, the kind that spits out the pictures right then and there.  I was very intentional about angle and view, though I couldn't do anything with lighting and editing.  Anyway, he gave me a very nice complement about the "feel" and scope of the pictures I had taken and it was a nice feeling.  Fast forward a few years and other cameras, still 35mm, came in and out of my life and then my dad gave me his Canon AE-1.


Still a 35mm, but I could adjust all kinds of things on that sucker!  I had a blast with it, until the shutter started acting all wonky and I couldn't justify getting it fixed.  By then, digital cameras were becoming mainstream and I finally bought the Canon PowerShot A80.


I seriously loved this camera.  We bought it right before Braden was born because I knew I was going to take a bazillion pictures of my first baby!!  And I did. :)  As anyone can tell, I am a Canon fan.  I'm very familiar with this brand and I really like the way they feel in-hand.  I've played around with Nikons and Sonys and other brands, but for me, nothing beats a Canon.  One thing I really liked about this camera, aside from the pretty good pics it took for its size and built-in lens, was the ability to play around with manual settings.  I could also take a pic in black and white, sepia or a number of other settings on the camera itself before any editing had to be done.  I thought it was a fabulous all-around camera.  I miss it from time to time even now.

A few years back, around four or five now, I think, I decided I was going to get a degree in photography from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA.  They have an accredited online program that enables you to get up to a Master's degree in Photography.  I was pumped!  Sam was very encouraging of the whole scheme and it wouldn't cost us any money because of my GI Bill.  So, I got registered and enrolled and bought our fabulous IMac and was in process of buying the Canon 40D and the Adobe Photoshop professional version (whichever that was at the time), when everything kind of hit like a ton of bricks.  That's what happens when I don't ask God whether or not I should be doing something. :)  I got to looking at how much time I was going to actually have to carve out for doing assignments and studying and all that jazz and well, it was definitely going to be more than the 9 hours worth of credits I was going to do per week.  Not to mention, we were still living in the motor home and I had Braden and Zekey to attend to, soon to be pregnant with Ailey, though I didn't know it at the time. ;)  Anyway, right about then, I decided the whole process was a no-go, so instead of getting the 40D, which Sam was still all for, I decided to get the digital Rebel.  It was less expensive, would still take great pics and I could still manipulate as I went along.

In those years since I got the camera, I have had seasons of intense interest and photo taking and plenty of seasons of I-don't-have-time-for-this.  I used to edit pictures when I had my little PowerShot because I had some editing software I really liked.




Now, of course, it is no more. :(  Oh, well!  So, for a very loooooong time, I did no editing.


So, I was puttering along mostly taking pics of my own family and then all of a sudden, I seem to have gotten launched into taking pics for other people's family.  I also started editing a lot more.  I found some stuff online and downloaded it and I have been having fun ever since!  I am learning a bunch and I am getting new opportunities to improve.  God knows I like photography.  I believe He placed that desire in me.  Right now, though, I'm trying to find the balance in all of it.  My family is my first priority and I have a tendency to get very focused on something and let everything else hang out on the sidelines until I wear myself out and back off from that thing.  I believe God is teaching me how to prioritize and ask Him if this is something I should be doing and if so, how much and on and on....Its been an interesting ride so far.  I also am not in a place of thinking about this long-term, because it may not be.  It may be just for a season, only God really knows!  I think I'll let Him handle all those details.  So, I stay scheduled with shoots that work out for my and my family's schedule and its not the main thing, which is how it should be for me.