If you have ever wondered why I like photography, and I’m pretty sure you all have, its because its a creative activity that lets you observe things around you and try to capture events, things and points of view for posterity. My friend’s dad growing up was a photographer and he always had amazing photographs hanging up that he had shot, developed, printed and framed himself. Photography was art, but it was also science and engineering for him. When I took photography in High School I was terribly disappointed to find out that the actual science behind it was not as forgiving as I had hoped it would be. I wanted for there to be a great, simple method to take photos, print them, hang them to share, and then to repeat with other photos. I gave up on photography because the steps to produce consistent results seemed just out of my grasp and budget (film costs money and the equipment to process yourself is expensive, as was having someone else process the photos for you).

Then digital photography showed up on the scene. What had once been exposing my inability, broken by fixer and developed into a pain was now being replaced by technology that allowed me to avoid the bad process that was error prone and gave me freedom to discover the awesomeness that was photography without the older headaches. Newer photography headaches have come up in places like storage, image software needing to be learned, file sharing issues and the like, but this was a step that cut out the toughness and let me just shoot and share.

Two different friends got me excited about photography again: Norm Avery at church. He showed me his Nikon 5700 and I was blown away by the picture quality and what it could do. And Mike Mason, who showed me his awesome photos as well as shared some great image manipulation techniques in photoshop.

My biggest problem was wanting the newest, biggest camera with the most amazing accessories. I griped about it one day to Mike who plainly put it into perspective. He told me that the camera didn’t make the photographer. It’s a simple statement. It is true that a great camera can take great pictures, but in the hands of the wrong person its just as bad as my grandma buying a computer and only using it for playing solitaire! The point was not that I should never get a better camera (I did, but it isn’t the bigger camera I had envied), the point was that I had to work with what I had to maximize my use of the camera before I worried about having the $5,000 setup. I have a $400.00 camera and I love it!

I have been to zoos, public gatherings and various events and seen people with monstrous cameras and they’re just walking around holding them while they chase their kids, drink a beverage or just sitting like a bump on a log. I was at the Denver zoo and a photographer with a massive lens was taking shots of the animals and I talked with him about it a little bit. I don’t remember the info he gave me on the lens, but I do remember his attitude of friendliness. He wasn’t out there showing off his camera (though I did notice it… a LOT), but he was enjoying his art. The cat he was trying to photograph was not cooperating with taking the shot he was after and he sat their patiently waiting for the shot. It wasn’t the camera. It helped to have the camera, it helped to have a great lense (this thing was amazing), but it was not the camera or the lens that had planned the shot out and waited for the cat to move into the right place, look the right way, and executed the shot.

Mike was right. I knew he was, but it required me to change my mind about what I expected from my photography experience. Mike, along with encouragement from my buddy Dave, suggested I get the Canon S3IS several years back so that I could take the pictures I wanted (most of the time) for a price that was less than $500.00. Because my attitude about the camera was different – it wasn’t about having 500 bells and whistles and huge lenses – I was glad to upgrade from the Nikon 5700 I had had, to the Canon S3IS. The IS stands for Image Stability, which was one of the big reasons, along with a faster auto-focus and a sports setting, that I bought the camera. With two little girls I needed faster auto-focus than the Nikon had and with sports I knew that I could get better shots of them in pretty much any activity they could participate in. The camera helped, but I knew I had to learn about the camera and use its tools as a smart photographer instead of just hoping that the camera could compensate for my lack of thought.

I have a lot to learn about this camera still. I need to think more about composition, depth of field, and just about every other detail of the photos I take, but my attitude has changed. My friend Jeremy often takes great shots where the composition is great, but the depth of field grabs my attention. Mike gets the lines to draw your eye to the subject, and Sean, the childhood friend whose dad is a photographer, plays with all of the details and finds new expressions of the images with adjusting colors. There’s lots to learn, and in the end, the camera is a tool, but its no replacement for the photographer who uses the tool to make art, capture moments, and create images of memories.

If you have a hobby or passion consider adjusting your attitude about certain elements to focus on the very substance of the passion. Don’t get caught up in the trappings (unless you’re into a dangerous sport, then get into the trappings, don’t kill yourself or get yourself killed), find out what the fundamental details are and explore them. In our consumer focused world exit the ‘stuff factory’ mindset and make sure you’re maximizing what you’ve got. Then, if time and money allow, you can get the cooler, newer, bigger, better, faster, flashier thing – but it won’t be excess baggage, it’ll be the right tool in the hands of a thoughtful individual.

You can find pictures by some of the folks mentioned above at the following locations:
Sean Franzen
Mike Mason
Jeremy Doan

I have uploaded a slew of photos, including a few of the kids, up onto my flickr.com account.  You can view a slideshow of the images here.  I’m pretty proud of the elephant pictures for some reason.  The Lioness image was taken at the www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/.  Well worth going to, even if its in the middle of nowhere.

My Grandparents came into town Friday night on the train.  Remember those?  They’re large metal objects with wheels that roll on tracks and they make a lot of noise.  Yes, they slept on the train, and yes they said it was interesting to do so.  It took two days and they enjoyed it.  Well, my grandparents are here in town until Wednesday morning and I’ve been enjoying some time with them.  I really love them a lot because they influenced me so much growing up.  They have left a heritage that is truly amazing to me.  My grandpa’s work ethic, though over the top, was unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.  My grandmother’s raising five children is miraculous.  And their love for one another for over sixty years is a model for many marriages, some of which my grandfather did the ceremony for.  One of those marriages was my own.

It has been wonderful to see them and it has been neat to have them play with the girls (though Evie has been rather picky and still prefers my dad to either great-grandparent for some reason).  I have had several good talks with both of them and over the last couple of days we have recorded some video footage that I will not be sharing with the internet, but will be shared around our family because its certainly part of our family’s experience of them in our lives.  If you get a chance to see your grandparents regularly count yourself blessed.  We need to see them as often as possible and I pray for ways that we can do that more.

Saturday we had breakfast at my parents’ place and then took the girls home for a nap.  Saturday night we had dinner at Kurt & Becky’s with great food and more fellowship and fun.  Sunday was church & then in the evening we had them over to our place for more time together.  Today was the zoo (pictures) followed by an afternoon of rest and then dinner at my parents with some singing (yes, our family does some of that) after dinner.

Good times for sure, and I hope for still many more.