Saturday, January 26, 2008

My Quarter Life Crisis

I guess the next step would be to let you know a little about me so the most logical step would be to start at the beginning. I'm a 28 year old guy living in Tennessee and have spent the last 27 years wondering what I wanted to do with my life. Even as a kid, art always interested me. I liked to draw,but most of the time it was just pencil sketches on notebook paper.


As I got older I still enjoy to paint and sketch but never thought of having a career that was also something that could be passion. Most of the folks I knew seemed to hate there jobs. I just assumed that's the way it worked.


So when I was old enough I took on retail jobs that taught me how to interact with people, but the jobs themselves were often tedious and boring. That's just how jobs are I guess.


When it was time to head to college my only thought was to find a hot job and see if I could survive. I decided to go into the information technology field. It seemed that they were passing out good paying jobs at the door of the graduation ceremonies so this was obviously the way to go.


Well over those four years I did my best to struggle through my IT classes while maintaining stellar grades in anything unrelated to my major. Accounting classes didn't help the GPA much either, but I digress. I finally graduated with a BS in Business Management with an emphasis in Management Information Systems. During those 4 years the bubble burst in the Dot Com industry and companies started to outsource IT jobs and decrease the workforce.


After 8 long months I finally got a job that I felt I was way too good for, which was a Helpdesk "analyst." In this case, the term analyst means the guy I call when I want to scream at someone or when I've forgotten my computer's password for the 7 thousanth time. Rumors of outsourcing circulated and I almost prayed that it would happen. At the same time, I needed the paycheck and finding a new job was stepping out into the unknown. Scary!


Luckily I was promoted to a position supporting what is essentially a tax software. It came with a nice pay raise and a little less stress, but now I'm working in two areas that were probably the least intresting subjects to me in school. On top of that, I'm driving 33 miles each way to work which hasn't fostered much goodwill towards going there.


Thankfully, God put someone in my life that kept encouraging me and supporting me. We've been married for about a year and a half and I can't imagine surviving it all without her.


I guess I had to be hit over head before I'd seek out my calling. I mean seriously, could I have been any more off track.


So for the sake of not making a long story even longer, I"ll explain -- why photography? Well, I came to photography via photoshop. I had a nice little Point and shoot 4mp camera and I loved to edit the photos in PS. It was almost like painting again. I actually took pictures at a wedding using this little camera as a favor for a "Bride on a Budget." We were all pretty happy with the results, but I quickly learned what the limitations were with this camera. I missed several shots b/c of the shutter delay. After playing with that camera for a couple of years I bought my first DSLR right before our honeymoon. I was instantly blown away at what a difference it made. It wasn't long before I was thinking about composition, lighting, mood, etc. Since I bought the DSLR, I've been Sponge Bob photography pants. Soaking up everything I can with regards to making better captures. Right now I'm really getting into off camera lighting and trying to learn as much as I can to improve the light.


Well that's all for now. Stick around, this could get interesting.


Times, they are a changin' - Bob Dylan

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