Joy to the World
After the miserable post about my photo taking aspirations being knobbled by credit scoring I have a much more positive note. On the way home from Jessops the other day with my tail between my legs I noticed a much older model of the camera in the window of the nice family run camera shop down the road. Second hand, a Canon 300D for a mere £220 ish.
I was thinking about this for a few hours. It seemed so right. I called my mum and asked her if, despite the fact that she's bailed me out extensively over the last few months, if she could front me the money. To my slack jawed surprise she said yes. Not only that, she bought the thing over the phone and within a couple of hours she texted me to say I could pick it up.I love my mommy.
It's a perfect camera. Bigger than its younger brothers the 350D and the 400D, less megapixels only 6 as opposed to 10, but like the argument with breasts I always feel that anything you can't get in a 10x8 is a waste. All that megapixel stuff is just penis-waggling anyway. It's bigger and heavier than the new ones, but actually thinking about it that's a GOOD thing. You don't want camera to be small and light, not professional ones anyway. And it comes with the exact same 18-55mm lens I would have got on the 400D. All I need now is some extension rings or a non-Canon zoom lens, which I think you can get for £70 and I'll have the same kit I was going for without owing any money to Jessops.
Yeah, I love my mommy a lot.
So subsequently I've been taking pictures like some kind of crazed snapping monkey. I knew I missed it, I forgot exactly HOW much I missed it. And it's all coming back to me. I've found a flashgun in my photography stuff in a box in the loft, and spent many a happy hour bouncing flash of the ceiling and walls and trying out exposure settings. Nothing can compare to the creation of a perfect image... (check out the series I did of Hattie in her kimono...)I'm so stupid. I could have been doing this all the time.
Okay, so I had all my cameras stolen from my office at school a couple of years back so I couldn't take any pictures for a long time. But I forgot how deeply that ran through the core of my being. I forgot how important it was to who I am. I also forgot how good I am.
Most important though is that it really dawned on me that I could actually earn money this way. Seriously despite being a pretty decent photographer with over 30 years experience I still only think about writing and web work when I think about freelance gigs. Yeah I really AM that stupid. Anyway, I'm now trawling the Internet for photo libraries and photography markets. This could be a new freelance job for 2008.
Anyway, thanks mum. Of all the things you've done for me this year this might be the most important.
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posted by Phil South @ 9:40 am
