Learn from your elders

Have you ever had a moment that made you want to quit your passion? I thought I already had this moment, but on Saturday night it was revisited. Sheila said it was better to watch for the first time than shoot so I didn't bring my camera. Little did I know that she was going to ask me if I wanted to shoot anyway. We were inside the Church waiting for the ceremony to start when Sheila says, "Want to shoot?" I froze. I almost cried a little tear of joy. I was nervous. Part of me wanted to say no, but most of me was saying "Hip hip hooray! This is it! This is my chance!"

Sheila then hands me her old camera. By old I mean old, elderly, gram and pop camera. I had no idea how to use it, and Sheila wasn't even sure if she remembered how either because it was that long ago. You had to press two buttons in order to get to the setting you want. I don't know why, but that's how it worked. There were plenty of thoughts running through my mind at this moment, but mostly it was "Don't screw this up. Don't screw this up." I took a couple of shots to see if I got the hang of it. So I did, and it was fine. I thought I was set. Then the music starts, and one by one the bridal party slowly processed towards the altar. I start to take photos and after 4 or so I looked at the screen. Each one was blurry, overexposed, and overall bad. I was shocked. I was petrified. I wanted to melt into the floor. I thought to myself "you are screwed. sell your camera and go back to recreation for a living." Struggling to figure out what went wrong, I tried to delete the photos to save myself from humiliation. But guess what? The delete button doesn't work. FML so hard right now. There I was trying to figure out this camera that I had no idea how to use when I see that the setting was on aperture priority instead of manual. Don't ask me how that happened because I had no clue. I play this moment over and over in my head and I can't remember or figure out how it went from one setting to another. I'd blame it on the old camera, but I won't do that. Instead, i'll say it's a lesson learned :)

My experience only proves that photographers should really know their cameras inside and out.

To be honest, I'm glad that everything that went on that day happened. It's a bump on the road that I chose to take. I want to learn as I go, and get better at what I do each day. Thank you Old Camera for the lessons you've taught. You'll always be in my heart, and in the stories I tell when I'm older.

*A little note: Sheila had to take a break before the reception started. She gave me her fresh, young, and fabulous camera to shoot with. She and I had a connection. Jack Johnson wrote a song about us, and he called it "better together" :)