Testimony!!

I tried to think of a few cute names for the title of today's post, but nothing does it justice other than that. Joshua's birthday is coming up on the 10th and I wanted to get portraits of him done. After reviewing everything, I decided it would be more fun (and creative) to do them myself. My camera has fallen on its head more than once and is a bit too temperamental to get good shots of an active toddler. I remembered my father-in-law having a camera at our wedding, and I know he always buys the best, so I asked him if I could borrow his camera for the shoot. He agreed to let me borrow it and I went over yesterday to get it.

Maybe I wasn't paying attention in the past, or maybe it's the fact that I didn't know anything at all about cameras back then...but I definitely didn't remember him having a camera like the one I saw him take out of the box. I was drooling. He hadn't used it in over a year because it was "giving him problems". The issue wasn't the camera. The issue was that it wasn't a point and shoot camera like he wanted, it was an SLR (one of those cameras you need to study photography to know how to use). This was a fully automatic AND fully manual $1500 digital Canon. I held it in my hands and it was weighty; heavy even. I said, "Thank you so much for letting me use this!" He said, "Yeah, you can use it to take pictures of Joshua this week. No problem." My wheels started turning. I said, "Did mommy tell you I want to do a photography studio out of the house?" He said, "No, she didn't tell me that." He seemed completely uninterested and busy with what he was doing so I didn't pursue the conversation. Instead I played with the camera a bit, quickly getting drawn in by the complexities I had been reading about this week. I put the strap around my neck and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. A photographer? Me? Oh my gosh, it was growing on me quickly. I got lost in the world of possibilities.

Then suddenly, in the midst of pulling out all the equipment he had bought for this camera, I heard him talking to Pierre about future things that went beyond just this week (like buying me a new tripod). I interrupted their conversation, "Wait a minute, you're gonna let me use all this stuff for my studio?" He said, "Yeah! It's just sitting here in the box collecting dust. If you can do something good with it go ahead!" He was so sincere, so generous, so surprised that I was surprised. I said, "Serge, you're like making my dream come true right now." He smiled, but I could tell he didn't fully understanding what this meant to me. I felt my knees getting weak and I passed out on the floor, literally. I was half joking in my dramatic manner, but I was seriously having trouble standing. Someone handed me something I could not have obtained on my own any time soon. This doesn't happen every day.

When I got up off the floor I went to the bathroom and just cried. I praised Yahweh and asked Him to help me always glorify Him with this camera. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement! I must've hugged Serge about 4 times before we left. That's more than I've hugged him since I've known him. I walked out of there with a barely used professional camera, professional tripod (with the promise of a new one) and a zoom lens that costs over $600 all by itself. Suddenly all the camera lingo and technical mumbo-jumbo I detested was my new "must-know" secular topic for the year. I came home and started taking pictures right away. What a difference! I'm hooked. I truly enjoy photography AND photoshop editing (is there a place for me in the world? lol). I will be shooting fully automatic at first, but that manual side is calling my name and I will answer. More importantly, it has become quite obvious who is really calling my name in all this, and that is a sobering thought.

Before I went to bed I accidentally erased all the pictures I had taken. I have lots to learn...lol...but it's ON now!!