Photography for me has always been fun but never something I have had time to learn properly. At the end of 2010 my business was really being hit hard by the recession and so was my mental being, due to the stress. I decided I needed to control this stress if not for my own mental well being but also for my family no one wants to see a son, husband, father missing out on the most important years of his life worrying about things that are simply material. So I purchased my first DSLR from my brother in law a Nikon D40 in the hope that not only it would give me some light relief to get away from my stresses of business but also that it would help with my product images for my business.
So The Story Began
It must of been in the January of 2011 I decided its time to really master my camera after viewing some fantastic images that I found on flickr. I suddenly realised in my hands I had a very powerful tool but not a clue how to use it outside of its auto mode and I made a pact with myself that for once I am not going to run away from something I didn't understand I was going to hit it face on and get to the bottom of it. So I went out and purchased my first ever addition of Practical Photography knocked myself up a brew and sat down with my magazine in hope it would shed some light on what it was I was going to do. Then I stumbled across an article advertising a FREE DSLR Bootcamp style course, my prayers were answered I had found myself a course that was not going to cost me a bean other than the magazine subscription. Finally I can learn how to use the camera and most of all I don't need to spend hundreds of pounds to find out if I have a flare for it. I was under no illusion even though it was free I was still very nervous as I had no clue on what I was doing and was in fear that there will be nobody on the course that was as fresh to photography as I was. I took sometime lurking Photo Answers Forum to find out what sort of thing I had signed myself in for by this I mean was I going to be good enough or were my images going to stand out like a sore thumb as my standard was not up to par. After about a month of lurking in the shadows I found somebody had kindly put a link to a flickr group that was set up as a platform for all members that were going to sit the bootcamp course to share ideas, fears and general photography advice. As soon as I found this group I was off it suddenly became apparent that there was a great mix of photographers from beginners like me to people I think should be pro and to top it all off they were a seriously enthusiastic friendly group of people with one major thing in common with me to improve on something they really enjoy. For me it was the best thing I had done for some years I really started enjoying shooting anything and everything and posting my images to flickr to see what other people thought of my shots as sometimes family's advice is a little blinkered. Suddenly images I thought had met the briefs for bootcamp were being fairly critiqued by all types and standards of photographers they were finding faults that somehow until mentioned I was missing, this if anything just drove me to be better not to prove to them that I could do it but to prove it to myself, train my brain if you like to notice the minor things that only a photographer would notice. Months went by the course started to get harder and harder yet thanks to my new flickr friends the fire was kept burning with there constant advice and pick me ups. So I kept battling on and made sure I had uploaded a shot for every module this constant pressure kept my mind occupied for months it also kept my stress levels at a low which is good as sadly in August with only 2 more modules to go I had to close my business as the recession had finally taken its toll and I could fight no more. Sadly this did have an impact on me and with this even though I made sure I still completed the last two modules however due to the situation I had found myself in the quality was not what I wanted to finish off with in fact I think it was worse than when I had first started before the course began, however it suddenly dawned on me that the relaxation I get from taking photos had helped me get through these hard times I had suddenly found myself in. Obviously my situation was upsetting but the photography helped me turn that upset into something positive and that was taking better photos as I had now found time to really think my shots through and this then in turn took my attentions of feeling sorry for myself away.
You Only Get One Life Live It
Thanks For Reading
James
Thank you To All My Flickr Friends For Helping Me Improve And Without Knowing It You Have got Me Through Some Hard Times
Feel free to subscribe I have yet to start adding some images
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