takin' pictures

The thing I wanted to be most when I was little was a Solid Gold Dancer. I could not think of any thing cooler. Those skin tight outfits, big hair, high heels and legwarmers…oooooh leg warmers. Dancing around with hunky bare chested guys was also a plus (a big one). But alas Solid Gold was cancelled and I had to choose a new dream. The first semester on my freshman year of high school I took the Photo I class. It seemed like a fun class that would not take much effort. So borrowed my mom’s Canon AE1 and I went about the class with that attitude and I did not do well. The teacher had a little chat with me at the end of the semester. She told me that she could tell that I half assed my way through the class and thought that I could do better. I took the class again the following semester. I opened my eyes and put a lot of thought and effort into the images I wanted to produce. I found that I loved photography…and I was good at it. For a better part of a decade I never went anywhere without my camera and I spent as much time in the dark room as I could. I had a good eye and there was not one thing I did not love about the process. Most of the money I made in my crappy part time job went to pay for film and paper. I knew this was what I wanted to do as a career. I worked hard and built a strong portfolio. The School of Visual Arts in New York City and the Institute of Art Chicago wanted me to come to their schools…and I wanted to go. But I got distracted. Now I can’t remember by exactly who or what but it caused me to put my camera down. I think I was somewhere in my mid-twenties when Jenn went back to school for photography. She would show me her work and would sit there thinking “I can do that. Why am I not doing that? I should start shooting again. I SHOULD GO TO SCHOOL!” Then I would find a 101 lame excuses of why I can’t or blah blah blah I suck. But I did pick up my camera again. I was traveling quite a bit at the time and was snap snap snapping away. I came home from one two week trip in the UK having shot 23 rolls of film. Again I got all caught up and put my camera down. Then everything went digital. I had a new excuse…I could not afford the camera I wanted. “I would totally get back into photography if only I could afford the camera I wanted”. I have had several point and shoot jobbies and would get a good image here and there, but that never stopped me from bitching about if only I had a better camera. If only… Jenn came out to visit in August and let me shoot with her Canon 20D. I started to fall in love again. I wanted one! Then out of the blue I get an email from Jenn that one of her friends is selling a barely used 20D with a lens for next to nothing. I get all excited and contact the friend and then sit back and wait to hear the camera is mine…ALL MINE BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The response I got was not the one I expected. Someone had beaten me to it by 10 minutes. 10 MINUTES!!! I was crushed. Husband was there when I found out I had missed out on the opportunity and saw how upset I was. He did his best to comfort me. Little did I know that he was hiding something up his sleeve. Turns out ol’ Husband was once again in cahoots with Jenn on a little Melinda sneak attack. About two weeks later while on the way home from the gym I get an urgent text from husband that FedEx is on the way to our house with our new phones and I was to rush home to sign for them. I pull into our neighborhood and see the FedEx man on his way out. I flag him down and as he hands me the box he asks if it’s anything fun. I tell him its new phones to which he respond he does not think so. I look down at the label and it is from Jenn. WTF?!?! I rush inside and call Husband to ask him what is in the box. He tells me to open it…and sitting inside is the 20D. Turns out that Husband was the one to buy it out from under me as an early birthday present. What a sweet, giving, loving Mr Sneaky Pants. He wanted me to have it in time for our trip to Colorado for a friends wedding. I am having a fun time getting used to the camera. It is so different from what I am used to. Are there nicer cameras out there…sure there are. But I am off to a good start. I am finding that I am a bit rusty (understatement) and am not sure what my point of view is yet. I took over 645 pictures last weekend of which I maybe like 20. I did manage to get one image that I think really captured the intimacy of the moment. I think I may be off to a good start.