It mounts to the top of my camera and can be adjusted in strength and tilted up to bounce the flash off the ceiling (instead of right on the subject) and swiveled to the sides to bounce the light off the walls. It can even be used remotely (meaning off the camera) to get more directional light. I signed up for an Advanced Photography class that starts on Monday and in this class I will learn "Advanced Lighting Techniques" and we needed an external flash. I am excited, excited, excited!!
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This isn't the "real" flash I wanted. I was trying to save for the model above this one, but it's over $400 whereas this one is only $279. It will still be good to have for studio lighting and fill flash when shooting outdoors, or I can sell it one day to buy the other (or keep it to use it in tandem with the more expensive one. I can put the more expensive one on my camera and it will fire off the one I'm getting if it is sitting somewhere else in the room--works for studio lighting), but it's a good place to start.
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You have no idea how amazing it is to me that one simple decision in October to forgo new living furniture to pursue a dream has gotten me this far. I remember the moment I made this decision. It was a deliberate, conscious decsion that I stewed over for a long time. I was standing in the kitchen/eat-in area looking around the living room imagining how awesome my new furniture would look (I had been saving for several months and was only a couple of weeks away from having enough). I was looking at the fireplace when I decided that sacrifices were necessary if I really wanted to achieve my dream. Furniture was going to be the first sacrifice to make. Don't get me wrong, I still really want that new furniture (I think about it nearly every day), but dreams don't come free or easy. And maybe when I am making lots of money as a photographer, I can then buy my new furniture (and maybe when my salary gets cut by more than half, I'll have a new career to fall on).
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Here's a quick run down of what I've done so far (you can skip this section if you want...it's mainly for me!): I bought my first prime lens (aka: a nice, expensive one) in October; I signed up for my very first photography class in November; I bought a backdrop stand, made my first $20 from a shoot, bought a reflector kit with those profits, and bought several photography books in December; signed up for my second photography class in January; signed up for my third photography class in February and began contemplating a home studio; and so far in March, I've bought my Speedlite. And, I'm hoping that now that spring is sooo close, I'll have more opportunities to get outside and practice.
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It might not sound like a whole heck of a lot, but for me it is. To stop sitting around just wishing to actually doing something about a dream of mine is HUGE. And the budgeting and saving I've done...amazing. I've managed to do all of this with cash (so a BIG thank you to all of you who gave me a birthday present!) while still getting a few things for me and the girls. I used to run out of money by the second week of each month, and now I'm rolling money over to the next month. I get frustrated with my tiny budget, though, but it's all about finding creative solutions and setting priorities.
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Sometimes I get scared thinking about venturing out on my own (well, I should say I'm scared senseless about this EVERY day), but I know I'm on the right track when I'm feeling blue and tired and down, and I take my daughter to the park to shoot pictures for practice, and I come home feeling on top of the world even though each picture wasn't a success. I couldn't wait to pull them up on the computer and see my images and critique them and edit them. I spent several hours doing this, and didn't mind doing it, and sometimes, I just pull them up for the fun of it. This tells me that I'm on the right path. The joy I get from this is a breath of fresh air. You just have no idea how much I need this.
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Thanks for listening!
1 comments:
I get it! Great for you! Can't wait to see where it will lead you....
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