Is it weird to post a post (or to write “post a post”) within minutes of the previous? Is there some sort of blogging convention about this? My thought is that if my posts are shorter, then you’re more likely to read them. Right? Like how most people read only the front page articles and never bother going to A12. Short and sweet.
Aight so here’s the kids’ size scoop on how I ended up here…in the blogosphere…thinking that people will enjoy reading my posts and viewing my photos. I got a Nikon D40 for my 25th birthday; my first D-SLR. I quickly purchased an 18-200mm lens and off I went. I’d barrrrely dabbled with a D-SLR prior to this. One of my bestest friends, and the one without whom I wouldn’t be on this journey, had a D90 that I would play with whenever we hung out, but we’d only met a year prior, so my experience was limited. I shot (and continue to shoot) at every chance I got. I was having fun, I was feeling creative, I was capturing images that I really enjoyed.
One of my first pics with my new camera…
my dear friend Holzer playing hide & seek with my bday flowers.
Hong and Dan celebrating.
It was on the Fourth of July, 2009, that I vividly remember deciding I either needed to get better and make a career out of this, or else just put the camera down – because I was waaaaaay too up in my friends’ faces that day to be a crappy photographer. They would have hated me. (Fortunately, they liked how things turned out). I decided that I would enroll in the University of Washington’s Photography Certificate Program in the spring of 2010. In the meantime, I was photographing the sunrises from my office building and scenes from around UW (where I went to school and work – GO DAWGS!!!) and posting them on UWeek, a weekly e-newsletter for students, faculty and staff. There’s a community photo page where folks can submit their UW-related pics, and as one of the more frequent contributors, people started emailing me their compliments and asking if they could get copies of my photos. A seismology prof at the UW (not gonna write his name because I don’t know how he’d feel about that) was the first person to actually buy my printed photos, and that’s when I really believed I could be a professional one day. (Many thanks to Prof X. I’ll also never forget the day I dropped off the photos…January 12, 2010, the day of the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti…Prof X was being interviewed by Ch 13 and told the camera guy to pause while he handed me a check). 🙂
One of the pics Prof X bought from me.
A bit over a month ago I was taking pictures at the annual employee softball tournament I organize for work, and my D40 stopped working – the shutter died!! *gasp* Cameras have a shutter life?? Who knew?! I certainly didn’t. I’d never thought of it at all! Fortunately I had a backup cam with me that day (thank you Travis!) to finish the job. Then, as soon as I got home I started researching…time to upgrade!! And while I’m at it, why not really invest in myself, in my future? A Nikon D700 and a few awesome lenses later, I’m ready to go (and eating lots of PB&J;)! I’m having a blast and creating opportunities wherever I can. This summer I’ve shot weddings, senior pictures, sporting events, cityscapes, babies, architecture… Photography is my drug of choice.
Goodness…that was more like a Cold Stone double scoop than a kids’ scoop on how I got into photog. So much for short and sweet. On to the next one! 🙂
