Saturday, August 20, 2011

Today was not totally wonderful.

Ok, well.... today has been a test of my patience and I'm trying really hard not to fail....so I'm going to write about it. Let me start from the beginning....

A few months ago (30 minutes before a professional photographers tour of Antelope Canyon) my Canon 5D stopped focusing to infinity. At minimum and medium focus distance my camera shoots beautifully but anything close to infinity (like a canyon) and it's one giant blurry mess. So... after a brief cry sesh/twitter rant I packed up the digital, pulled out the film and went on my merry way. After I made it back to South Carolina I (I = Matthew) mailed the camera to Canon and waited for my beautiful baby to return. Three weeks later it comes back with a note saying that they cleaned the camera but could find nothing wrong. For reals?
So, Matthew called Canon, explained the problem and we sent it back again. 4 or 5 weeks later I come home from work to find my camera waiting patiently on the doorstep with a note saying that they found a problem and it's fixed. Rejoice! We bust it out, throw on a lens, take a test shot and............. blurry! Sigh.
So, we send it out again and now,two months later, it's still there.
Now, I haven't stopped booking shoots during all of this time. I have, instead, been using Matthew's 5d and we just haven't been booking anything that would require us to shoot together....like weddings or two person photography competitions (only teasing, those don't exist).
So, this morning I leave my house at 8:15 with Matthew's 5d and drive to Columbia for a shoot. Now, this wasn't just any shoot... it was a session with some very wonderful friends that we have been planning on FOREVER. Also, I should mention that my parents came along to help me and visit with their friends so the whole gang was there. We get to the location which is absolutely gorgeous, the kids are so excited and look amazing, the light is perfect, I've had two coffees and we are ready to shoot! I take three or four test shots and things are lookin' good so I get everyone in position, put the camera to my eye, push the shutter button and that's when I hear it... the most awkward sound my Matthew's camera has ever made and I know instantly that I've lost the mirror.
I call Matthew and fighting back tears I tell him that we no longer have a working digital camera. He gets online, finds a way to tape it back together and I give it my all but it just won't work and we cancel the shoot. Luckily our friends are so sweet and didn't even think twice about quitting early. I'm so glad that I was shooting with really amazing people when all of this went down. So, thats where we are... Cameraless and sad with shoots booked and commitments made. I really hope that my camera comes back and works again and all of this will just go away but deep down I know that with a camera as old as mine, it's going to be one problem after the next and I can't risk missing precious moments because I don't have reliable equipment. I know that I will replace my camera and even though it might take a lot of saving and working and I'll probably miss out on a few shoots that I would love to do... everything will work out because it always does. Time after time I think I've been tested with this exact situation- not a broken camera but loss of things that I think I can't do without and every time I come out the other end with a new outlook and a new lesson. The fire took every single thing I owned and I honestly thought I would never get over that loss but I can look back now and really, honestly say that I am a much better person after everything that happened. It is a pretty empowering feeling to know that I can go with nothing and still be happy. Now, don't get me wrong... I love having towels and forks and pillows and I'm thankful for those things and the people who made all of that possible (thank you art action people and every person that helped us along the way) but I really know that when it comes down to it I'm happy with or without more than 1 pair of pants. So even though I did have a little meltdown today, I've decided that I'm not going to stress about this anymore. I'm going to shoot film and take polaroids and put every extra dollar I have into my lime green piggy bank and I know that I'm going to come out of this happier and more successful than ever. So, until I get that 5d mkII I will be here, blogging with who knows what kind of photos and being thankful for what I've got. Now, who wants a portrait session done on film?




Photobucket
Thanks to my wonderful, sweet friends for being so understanding about today! This is the test shot before the storm.


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