The story of us

One night, my sister Shannon was in our bedroom talking on the phone with a guy named Michael.  I was bored so I was doing various Carol Burnett impressions and other things to make my sister laugh. I decided to do this thing Shannon always cracked up at.  Now, before I tell you, let me clarify that I was 15 and a freshman in high school.  Young and immature.  So, I laid back and gulped as much air as I possibly could sat up and let out a long burp.  Shannon was cracking up.  Michael had heard me over the phone.  I was so embarrassed.  Much to my surprise, the next day he asked me out. 

I had actually met Michael once or twice but one time was particularly memorable.  I was out on my first car date.  We had gone to a dance hall.  Michael came talk to the guy I was out with.  As he came up he knocked over a chair in the process. As he was fumbling around to pick it up he said "I'm usually pretty cool but, I'm even cooler now because I'm drunk!".  We all had a good laugh.  Heck we still get a laugh when I bring it up.

Michael came to pick me up for our first date on March 1, 1986.  I had just turned 15 and he was 17. My sister Shannon actually went out with him once after she had broke up with a long time boyfriend. They were just friends so they decided to just keep it that way.

When we agreed to go out I honestly thought it was just for that night.  We were living in Belton at the time. My family would be moving to Copperas Cove at the end of the school year

We went out to eat at a nice Mexican restaurant.  After we ate he took me bowling and then we went to the movies and finally out to the lake.  I had never been out the lake on a date before. He went for a kiss and when he wrapped his arms around me I clamped my arms down making sure he wouldn't make a move. Michael still teases me about doing that. Unfortunately I had to be home by midnight.

Neither of us were morning people but for some reason both of us woke up early the next morning.  He called me and asked me to hang out and of course I said yes. That was the beginning of us.

Photography

I love taking pictures. I always have. When I was in 8th grade I asked for a camera and my parents bought me a Polaroid. I was out of film in no time. When I turned 16 they bought me a used Pentax with 2 lenses, a flash and a tripod for $50 from a friend. I was in heaven especially since I was in journalism.

My sophomore year I wrote articles and sold ads and helped get the paper setup at the printers. It was really cool learning how a paper is really created. It is amazing all the work that goes into getting a paper to go to print. Even our small school paper the Blue Beacon took quite a few of us many hours of hard work.

The summer of my sophomore year, my teacher took the kids in our journalism class to the University of Texas so we could sharpen our skills in whatever area we were interested in. By then I really wanted to be in the photography department. Since I had my own camera and has proven to her I could take decent shots she gave me a change to go to the photography portion of workshop.

In the photography course I learned how to roll my own film into canisters. How to put the film on the reels and develop the film. Basically I learned the ins and outs of photography. We had assignments and had to take pictures of 6 different categories that would be in competition with everyone in the course. Not just kids from my school but everyone that was attending the photography course. I didn't think I had a shot to win anything so I just did my best.

On the day of the award ceremony our teacher allowed me and a couple of other students to cover the taks test protest at the capital. If I had been wearing a dress or a skirt I would have been allowed to stay in the capital and take pictures while they had their meeting. I had no idea I would be going someplace so nice so I didn't have the proper attire. After the shoot I got back and found out I had won 3 of the six awards. I was floored. Don’t get me wrong I still had a lot to learn but I was on the right track.

The reason I'm telling you all of this is because I want to let you know I do have a little background in photography but it's been years since I was in journalism. My Pentax froze up and I went on to the point and shoot film camera and then finally the point and shoot digital camera. Taking sports shots with a one of those has been a challenge. You have to anticipate the shot just before it happens and click the shutter then. Surprisingly I’ve gotten lucky and we have come out with some awesome shots. Even with those cameras I could crank out 200 pictures in a couple of hours.

When I got my Nikon D3000 it was an impulse buy. We had actually gone to Best Buy to get Blake something because I had gotten and unexpected bonus. My husband saw the display and it was on sale and said I could get a camera instead. Instead of just buying the camera right then I should have researched to find out what the best camera would be. I had wanted a better camera for so long I jumped at the chance to have one. What I didn't know at the time was the D3000 was a starter camera and is limited. But, that is ok. I am still having a ball with it. I love that I can take multiple shots in seconds. This helps when Blake is swinging the bat or when he is running to catch a ball.

I've been a little frustrated because I can't figure out how to get my shots from being blurry when I take pictures of my God daughter Olivia playing volleyball. So of course I went to Mr. Google. I found a really cool site on Monday called froknowsphoto.com. He is doing a project where he is using a D3000 and showing you don't have to have the best equipment as much as you have to trust in yourself and just play with the settings. So I'm going to take a tip from him and take it off of auto and go manual. I had already figured out how to push the camera to 1600 for the ISO but the F-stop is what I need to work on next. I think that the lack of light in the gym is what is killing me on the shots. So I'm really looking forward to getting out in the field and testing some of the suggestions he made. The really cool thing is he has things for beginner to advanced. I will keep you posted and let you know if I learn anything interesting.

If you have any suggestions on cutting the blur on volleyball photos or any photography suggestions at all I would love to hear them.

Have a great day!