A Dream

 

Guys. Gals. I have a dream. nothing HUGE and life changing, at least not yet, but a dream nonetheless.

You see, my interest in photography began just over three years ago. I somehow came across the blog of a wedding photographer. I stayed up for hours browsing through her beautiful photographs. That's the first time I remember truly desiring a DSLR. Now, three years later, I have one. Canon T3i. Nothing too fancy - it's no Canon 5D Mark III, I'll tell ya that, but it's my baby, and it is absolutely perfect to me.

When I first saw those beautiful pictures, though, as well as those of several other photographers I still follow today, I wanted to do that. I wanted to capture the love between two people. I wanted to have all that fancy gear. The former is still true, but the latter pretty much went away once I got a little bit of experience under my belt. I've taken photographs at a couple different low-key weddings at church, and done an engagement session. And you know what? It's hard work. My arms and feet ache afterwards, and I worry I didn't get a single good shot.

None of those have been since I got my camera, though. I'm not sure I've improved a whole lot in my photography since then, but I know I have a little bit. Solely because I've taken the time to learn how to use the camera. From day one, I have shot in manual. It takes quite a few tries, but I've kinda gotten it down now. I adjust the ISO, the shutter speed, and occasionally even the aperture. I'm really beginning to see how different each type of lens is. I'm looking into getting a second, cheap, one because I feel it can bring a whole new look to my photography if I can get an aperture like f/1.8.

Ok, I'll stop beating around the bush here, because I'm not sure I'm making much sense: I want to do some photography. Of people. Although I'm not really sure I want to do photography for a living. I want to make money, and I want people to get some pictures of them and their families in a natural state and for a low price. When I say low price, I mean like $15? 25?/hr. I don't know how much. I want to try a few things. I want to get out of my box.  Not in a studio. In a field (not that I have a clue where any open fields are). In your house (ok, that sounds creepy, but just look at pictures like these - I love her photography and would love to try that style).

In case you were unaware, today is Halloween. AKA, less than two months until Christmas. And, as if it's even all that important in the grand scheme of things, who doesn't love to have a great picture to send to the relatives for Christmas?

I hope my tone is coming across as I intend it to here - I don't just want money. No. Please don't think that. I want you to consider allowing me to capture you and your loved ones in this moment. Life goes by fast. I don't know how to explain it in words: it's just a feeling. Unlike three years ago, I don't have the desire to work up to charging thousands of dollars for capturing a wedding. Instead I actually kinda have the desire to capture families just being together.

(I do want to be paid, though, because I definitely still hope to head to Chicago next fall. And, while I am getting a lot of hours at Chick-fil-A, I want to make sure I'm doing as much as I can to save money for that. I even have one more idea of something I want to try, but I'm still working up the courage to make that public.)

Well, I guess that's it. I've been wanting to write this post for about four months now. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can (obviously) comment. email. facebook. call. text. talk. whatever way you know of - connect with me about it. Oh, and thanks for reading. (:

- rl