A gallery of sorts

As those closest know I've found an even stronger passion for photography than I ever used to have.

My first camera? One of those small rectangular box-y things (it was a kodak I think) where you have to advance the film by cranking the handle. And then before I graduated high school I bought my first real one. A Canon. And it was not an automatic. Everything I did was manual on it, it sort of helped me learn to frame things quickly so as not to miss action shots, and that camera also took awesome fireworks shots.

6 years ago I bought the first model of the Canon Digital Rebel along with a zoom lense. 6 years in digital SLR's is a long time. So I've been contemplating a new camera for a while. But alas, right now is not that time. I am holding out for the furnace to make it through the winter and it's 33rd or 34th birthday so that in the spring I can give it a proper burial.

But I've been drooling over a camera and have my heart set on one. It will cost the same amount as the digital rebel did 6 years ago, but the money just isn't there right now for it. Afterall, I'll need to get memory cards and batteries too (I always have a backup of each and have needed them at times). My current camera still takes beautiful shots but I broke the base (close range) lense 2 years ago, one battery is dead and the last one only takes about 50 pics on a charge. The writing is on the wall.

My current project? Well it's 2-fold.

I'm learning to look at the world in black and white in order to learn how to shoot photos with strong contrast or shading. And I am going to take the open staircase and use the winding walls (it's a large spiral) as a gallery of sorts. The picture doesn't do the space justice, but there's a vaulted tall space that's wide open as you walk up. Perfect for very large displays rather than just  5x7's or 8x10's. I've been picking up large frames on sale from Michael's one at a time. All black frames, many different dimensions but they have this cohesive feel, with wide, thick frames. Someone recently suggested using a silver pen to write the location and year on the frame. It's an interesting idea.

I've slowly been selecting photos for the wall, but I also need to take a look at the ones stored on my external hard drive from the last few years. This will be a nice springtime project... right after I paint the downstairs for the 3rd time in a year. Hoping this last color choice is one I can live with!!!

Stay Tuned.