Dangerous hobby

I have a confession: by the summer, I’ll be broke thanks to this bloody hobby of mine. Just to clear some stuff in the air, this hobby I am referring to is not porn or anything illegal (but it might as well be for me). It’s photography (or trying to take good photos).

Since I was a film student back in my college times, my program also had a photography course among all the other video and literature related courses and I was forced to spend most of my OSAP (loans for Canadian students by government) money on a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera that most people know as the-big-camera-for-pros-thingy. I wasn’t too accepting to the idea of photography back then as I favored video far more than photos. So I started skipping the photography course and didn’t learn much anything for the first few weeks. In fact, I skipped so much that my program coordinator had to track me down and ask me if whether I’m going to drop the class or not.

I decided to show up for class for once and try to catch up since the camera had already been bought and learned nothing as I barely understood a thing. Needless to say my first assignment (which surprisingly, involved submitting the photos you took based on the limitations/topic given by the prof.) was a failure. That just left a bitter taste in my mouth so I decided to do some research and get the knowledge I needed to prove I can do this. That’s when I also found out you can just learn this stuff on the internet instead of going to college for it. After getting some knowledge into my brain, it was the time to build up the experience and skills. I took pictures for a whole week and did nothing but. And it worked.

After that, I would just show up to the photography class only to leave a few minutes later after handing in my assignments (photos). It was quite rare for me to figure out a reason to stay in the class for the full duration. What I didn’t figure out was that I had already become a whore for photography without even realizing it.

Few years past since then I worked at many retailer stores part and full-time that carried cameras while getting a few gigs on film or music video sets here and there, which had helped me on building up the product knowledge while also getting discounts on accessories for my camera and prints (you know? A photo print?). I would just decide to pick a day and do nothing but take pictures. Just walk around and take pictures as if that’s all I needed to do in my life. I would also bring my camera often on movie sets and take photos of the scenes and props.

Now, I decided it’s time for an upgrade and to expand my collection (which doesn't consist of much at the moment). I just landed a new job at another camera store and every time I look products, whether it’s a bag or a lens or a tripod, I simply add on to this mental list of things to buy in the back of my head.

I am trying my best to resist the urge since I need a new camcorder by this summer to shoot my short films and I need to save up all the money I can get for my new camcorder, but it may appear I am too weak at heart for my forever burning passion for photography. Time can only tell for now. If you’re another poor soul that’s been drugged up and now addicted by photography, I’m sure you understand exactly what I’m going through as it is equivalent to a girl shopping for shoes: it never ends.

Before I go back to watching the Hockey game right now, I have an advice for those whom are not placed with the curse of loving photography (and probably didn’t sympathize with a word I typed), find a hobby that won’t suck out the cash in your wallet as much as this. Might I suggest origami? You only need to buy paper: Simple and affordable. =]