Photography Frustrations

Wednesday and Thursday were quite exasperating days for me. I am honing my talents for photography as a business and a hobby. As I explained to Justin, I feel like an acountant who only has a calculator and knows about Excel and REALLY wants it. The Excel program would give him the results he seeks and the shortcuts that would make his job a little easier.

I am making do (quite well) with the best equipement I can afford. My camera is a starter DSLR, the lens are so-so, my lights irritating at best, my backdrop a creation of brillance. The vision in my head of portraits I want to create seem so impossible with the skills I possess. So where to start?

While proofing some photos with a client I noticed gray spots all over the black and white portraits. The pictures printed out with the same blotches. I can deal with equipement mediocrity because the results are awesome, but to give out a mediocre product...NO STINKIN' WAY. I talked with Uncle Scott for an hour about my issue. I decided to exhaust my entire "new Canon 5d" savings to upgrade my monitor and invest in a hot-shoe flash unit. My new monitor kicks-a. The resolution and contrast bring out the details my old monitor failed to show me. Now at least I can still produce print worthy images.

The flash is a sore subject with me. Flashes are custom-made for the camera brand. Why invest in a new flash when some day I will be switching from a Sony to a Canon outfit? Chaps my stinkin' hide. I needed the dang piece of EXPENSIVE flash for a wedding and outdoor photo shoots scheduled for the next couple weeks. It will be very handy.

My dream kit will take two-three years to save for. Oh, how sweet the day when I will have the right stuff. In the meantime I plan on taking as many photography classes as I can and keep on learning. One day, one step at a time. Isn't that the way of self-improvement? James referred me to an article that helped me regain perspective: Click here