Chapter 3
Hey everyone. Welcome back to the blog. The story of how Mill Creek was created. We have talked about the idea and how the name was built. If you are new here welcome, I would suggest that you read my previous entries just to kind of catch you up, I am told that they are pretty good reads. Of course everyone that has told me that is absolutely biased as they are family.
After selecting the name and building that name I would say next is just getting out there and taking pictures. The only way anyone gets better at anything is practice. Oh how I have practiced over the years. Up until the last year all the photos I took were basically taken with the basics. By basics I mean my cell phone just for the ease of use and the fact it is always with me. I don't know how many mornings I have been driving to work and see the most incredible sunrises. The hardest thing to do while driving down the road would be to try to take a dang picture with a DSLR camera haha. Heck the cell phone is hard enough!! I definitely take photos wherever I go and see one of those moments that I just have to take as my own. I just can't not do it, because if I don't take the opportunity I will kick myself in the ass for most likely the rest of the day.
Seriously though you have to take a lot of pictures and critique what you have taken. Ask yourself how can I do this better, what did I get right? If you are like myself I am the hardest on myself than anyone could ever imagine to be. I'm down right hard on myself on things like that. That and when I do something I want to do it the best I can. The way my mind works, I absolutely get obsessed with whatever it may be. When I get hooked on a subject or a plan my mind just refuses to cut off, for any dang reason. It even thinks about it while I sleep in my dreams. Border line crazy I know, but hey you're still ready, so who is the crazy one? As you read this I hope to let who I am come out in the words that I have laid down here.
Back to the subject of the basics, the other basic was my Nikon D40. I took so many pictures using that thing, and I'm telling you that is a great camera. If you are just starting out it will serve your needs and take great pictures. At that stage of the game you really don't notice the imperfections or lack of quality of the pictures. Let's face it at that point you're just happy if you get a few good ones out of all the bad ones. You know the fuzzy, out of frame, and rushed shots that we ALL started taking in the beginning. The lenes I used at the time were my 70-300 and my 18-55 kit lenes. Those will honestly get anyone headed in the right direction of pursuing whatever it is you hope to accomplish when you first pick up a camera other than a point and shoot. Don't ever knock the point and shoots though because I have honestly taken some great photos with one of those. My last one was a Fuji and I loved that damn thing because I didn't have to lug a camera bag around. The zoom on it was absolutely amazing. As with anything though it will show you its limitations soon enough. Like, battery life!!
Once I started taking photography seriously, I started really looking into the pictures I would take. Slowly I started seeing the imperfections and short comings with the pictures I would take. I do think that I was probably the only one who noticed, everyone else just saw, well, a photo. I wanted better though, I needed better, and I wanted better. How do you justify a purchase when your not even a photographer yet. Hell I hadn't made a dime yet. Honestly you don't justify it really you just simply do it. I tried out a few camera over the years, of course always a Nikon. It's just my brand, Nikon is like a best friend of sorts, and with that comes loyalty. If it's not broken don't fix it right? I honestly can't remember if I upgraded the camera first or the lens. I think and want to say the lens. With the lens, I didn't buy new, I bought used and bought it off Facebook market it took a while but I finally found what I thought was a deal. I found a Sigma 50-500mm lens.
I has shot with my 70-300 zoom lens for a long time, like a good 10 years, well my best friend had bought a 600mm lens and she would post some of the most incredible pictures. I was just in awe at what I would see. Where she lives she gets the opportunity quite often to get up close and personal with wildlife. She lives in Va. on the New River Trail, an amazing place for a photographer to live. It is an absolute dream to photograph there. Well living in Eastern North Carolina you have to be able to reach out and touch animals in the distance so a good zoom lens is a must.
After getting the lens and shooting a few things with it I found quickly the old trusty D3600 just couldn't process what that lens was giving it. I had been around the D7500 as that is what my best friend shoots. Like I said, OMG the quality photo that thing can release. She loves it so much she has two!! Her back up camera is just as good as her primary. So there it was I needed a new camera and the D7500 was what I wanted,. I purchased it with much hesitation but with a good kick in the ass from my wife, I bought it. (It is so amazing to have someone who believes in you and what you can do). With anything you do in life having the right equipment is a must. Now don't get me wrong the country boy in me will make just about anything work at the time until the means are found to do it the better way.
What I am saying to anyone who is looking to become a photographer, is do not rush out and buy the best camera and gear from the beginning. Master and outgrow what you have, that way there is a sense of growth, and you really give yourself the opportunity for accomplishment. Outgrowing and out shooting a camera is a pretty good feeling. It means you have learned to take better photos. It means you have really looked at your photos and took what you have to its maximum.
As of today, I shoot consistently with my D7500 and run my D3600 as my secondary. For now it works....Next time we will talk about actually taking the step of a business. Until then keep taking photos.
