5 Year Anniversary

I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since I started my photography hobby.

Elmer and I at Marshall Lake, Arizona

I can still vividly remember my “drive about” trip I made with my dog Elmer around my birthday in 2013. I’ve described it before, but basically I took a little Canon point and shoot and my cheap tripod and had a blast taking picture after picture (in JPEG format - the only format the camera shoots in).

When I got home I decided to get a better camera and drove to the local Best Buy. Nikon’s were on sale so I ended up getting a kit with a bunch of stuff that was of little value. It was very exciting - a whole new world full of acronyms and things to learn.

For the next few years I would spend almost every weekend going out with Elmer, camping somewhere and taking photos. In less than a year I moved from my entry Nikon D3200 to a full frame Nikon D610 and some full frame lenses. I shot in Arizona, Utah, California, Oregon, and Washington. I printed some images and hung them on the wall as well as gave them as presents.

The Thrill is Gone

Sometime in 2017, for some reason, I lost my desire to go shooting. I shot a few photographs on January 1, 2017 and that was it for the year. Here it is in the middle of 2018 and I still haven’t shot much and nothing worth keeping.

To make a long story as short as possible, I have been dealing with severe depression and have struggled to overcome it. I think I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel but it’s been a hard road to navigate. I started writing a diatribe about my depression but it was getting too depressing so I stopped.

That Old Time Feeling

Nikon D850

In the last week or two I’ve finally started getting interested in photography again. I’ve started wanting to go out shooting. I haven’t done much yet because of the heat and the fact that I have used all of my time off dealing with my illness.

Lately, again over the last couple of weeks, I’m really looking at getting the new Nikon D850 - not so much as a way to improve my photography but as a hope to motivate me to get out and maybe just re-shoot some of my favorite things and places in Arizona with the more detailed sensor. I have been mildly interested in it, mainly from a curiosity aspect, since it came out in 2017. 

Recently, however, I’ve been a mouse click away from placing my order - I’ve had it in a shopping cart more than once. Even now, as I write this, I want to get mine on order!

The bottom line for me now is that I have fond memories of photography and I want to get back to it!