One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2017 was to get a “real camera and take a photography class. I did all the research, found the class I wanted, picked out an appropriate beginner camera, and priced everything out. It wasn’t in the budget for that year, but I started saving. I made the same resolution for 2018. In May of 2018 I purchased a camera and headed to my first photography class.
Even though it was a beginner class, everyone had used a “real” camera before. Everyone except me. I was intimidated and out of my comfort zone. But I was determined. The instructor assured me that just meant I didn’t have to unlearn bad habits. (Relief!).
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| Lake Red Rock (c) DeAnn Malone |
My homework from that first class wasn’t outstanding, but this picture represents so much about this resolution. One of the reasons I wanted to be a better photographer was to capture the everyday moments with this sweet boy. I had two amazing photographer friends who had given me priceless treasures, but he wasn’t a sit and pose kind of guy. Capturing good photos when we had time with a photographer was becoming an ordeal for all involved. By learning myself, I could capture the moments more often and not in a situation that made him pose. It did make him my constant homework subject at first which he was not a huge fan of. The other piece of this picture is the beach. It is a beach I grew up on. My dad and I spent so many days on Lake Red Rock together in his boat. To be able to get a picture of my son there, well it is a memory I will always treasure. That little camera of mine is portable and I will be able to take it and capture memories for years to come.
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| Garden Flower (c) DeAnn Malone |
With my son tiring of being an on-call model, I quickly started looking for back-up subjects. Flowers are really good at sitting still and letting me adjust my settings to get the perfect picture. With Reiman Gardens less than a mile from my house (and also the location of my photography classes) it was a match made in heaven. This picture was taken in the middle of December. I am so thankful for a year-round place I can practice.
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| Full Moon Flower (c) DeAnn Malone |
There was a third piece of this that I hadn’t planned on going into that first class. One night a week, for the month of May, I hired a babysitter and did something just for myself. I liked it so much, I took another class in June and August. I signed up in September and October and attended and did homework as much as I could, but honestly, those months are a bit of a blur. But I was back at it (physically and mentally) in November. The time was always healing, challenging, calming, and rewarding, regardless of what was going on in my life.
So as we enter 2019, one sure-fire resolution for me is to keep this up. Keep taking classes, and the me-time it provides. Keep losing myself in trying to capture a photo that I see in my head. And keep preserving thise memories of my son’s life as he lives it rather than making him dress up and pose on my schedule.
Think back to a resolution you have kept. What was it? How did you keep it? How did it change your perspective?
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