A Significant Investment

I bought a camera.

Let me say that again.... I bought a camera.

I hardly ever spend any significant amount on anything, mainly because I never have any significant cash.


About 25 years ago I took a leap of faith and bought a Minolta X-700 and a couple of lenses. As time went on I was able to add a couple more lenses and a flash to my camera bag, too, often by buying and selling vintage cameras. I'd been using an old Miranda G camera outfit that had belonged to my father and felt sure that I could be a better photographer if I could only get past the limitations of my equipment.

I was right. My images improved along with my confidence and I eventually worked for several years as a freelance photographer.I shot portraits and covered campus events for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's public relations department (including darkroom work). On a volunteer basis I documented the life of my church for the eleven years we lived in Belton, Texas, too.


But the industry passed me by as I was taking a little break, having relocated from Texas to Maryland. The cost of investing in a digital single lens reflex camera and related equipment was well beyond my budget. I did what I could with a couple of point-and-shoot and "pro-sumer" cameras while saving up my pennies from my Etsy and Zazzle shops and researching each new model of camera and finally....

I bought a camera. 

A Canon T2i. I'll spare you the details, but you can read all about it here.

This is a significant leap of faith for me, as I can think of lots of other things I could have done with the same amount of money. But I know that this camera will be able to shoot as fast as I can see. It will enable me to shoot in low light without using a flash, which I love to do. It will even shoot video in full HD...not that I even have an HD TV yet, but one thing at a time!

I confess that I'm the kind of techie geek who reads the whole instruction book from cover to cover and I've still got a few chapters to go. But I've already been putting it through its paces and you can be sure that I'll be posting more photos here in the days to come.

I think you ought to make a significant investment in yourself every twenty-five years or so, don't you?