“Are you planning to become a professional photographer?” he asked me.

“No,” I answered.

“Then why are you bothering?”

He had a pretty good point. Since the classes are continuing education and not qualified as “career training,” I’ve been paying for them out of my own pocket — and they are not cheap. Given that the purpose of taking them is really thus for my own entertainment and that I need to cut expenses thanks to my lack of income, it can seem foolish to keep paying for them.

To be fair to myself, I paid for this summer’s classes before I made the decision to leave Intuit. But I could have applied for a refund; the money would come in handy. I have my reasons for sticking with the certificate series, though.

• I’m almost done. After the classes I will be taking this summer, I will only need to complete one more class and my capstone project. I’ve already invested quite a bit of time and money into this, and I know myself well enough to know I’ll always regret giving up at a point when it wasn’t much further of a push.
• I have something to prove to myself. I’ve enrolled and then dropped out of educational programs three times since I finished my associate degree. I lost count of the number of times I dropped out before I finished it. I have a bad track record, and I want to prove to myself that I can overcome it.
• I’m not averse to professional sales. The fact that I’m not intending to make photography my life’s work doesn’t mean I’d turn down the opportunity for a sale. In an interesting coincidence, just after the conversation with my friend I got a text message from a non-profit asking about using one of my pictures. I was thrilled.
• I need a creative hobby. Since I’m getting ready to turn one of my other creative hobbies (writing) into a profession, I need to hang on to something that won’t eventually develop pressure behind it. Shooting on assignment isn’t the same as shooting for fun, and I’ll need a way to relax. I’ll enjoy it even more if I know more about doing it.
• I’ve already benefited professionally. Part of the reason I signed up for the first class was a “strong suggestion” from my then-supervisor. Without realizing it, I’d started putting too much of myself into my job, and it showed. He was right to push me into having something significant outside work; it improved my mental state which spilled back onto the job.
• I need to avoid isolation. Although I’m capable of interacting with others, at my core I’m extremely introverted and thus unlikely to do it for its own sake. That can, and has, led to unhealthy levels of isolation. Putting myself into a situation where I’d be throwing away money by avoiding classes gives me an incentive to keep that from happening.

Even while I was working, it often felt very “decadent” to be completing the certificate series. It’s the first time I’ve ever taken classes (except for the occasional day-class or brief workshop) just for the sake of taking classes, and possibly one of the largest amounts of money I’ve ever spent on something that is really rather frivolous.

But I’ve learned some important lessons. I’ve learned that it’s okay to do something for the sake of doing it, even if it means using more than a nominal level of my resources. I’ve learned that there’s something I really can do, and do well, that isn’t work- or career-related. And I’ve learned that it’s actually quite important for me to have something like this in my life.

It’s already been worth bothering. Finishing it will be too. That’s why I’m doing it.

Having so much extra free time (without much extra money) has led me to turn to projects around the house. Here are the raw materials for the first one — a picture that’s intended to be displayed in the guest bathroom.

Since I’m still waiting on delivery of the larger scroll frame I ordered through Amazon, I had the time. But I finished last night and now, it’s just a waiting game.

The pattern is from The New Cross-Stitchers Bible and I’m planning to do it as charted/designed. That’s going to be a first for me; we’ll see how long that plan actually lasts.

Photo: Butterflies & Buddleia – Raw Materials, uploaded by airnos

I dropped by the first Peachtree Corners Festival this past Saturday to see what I could see and keep the camera warm. And “warm” is the right description: like many other parts of the country, we here in the Atlanta area have been experiencing a heat wave. I was far from the only person wearing shorts.

But since it was a street festival — which, in this case, quite literally meant that it was on asphalt streets — I was also far from the only person who had my shoes on. Anyone who’s ever walked barefoot on asphalt can imagine why.

It seems, though, that the flooring on the stage didn’t have the same problem. I was jealous. Running outside barefoot is a part of summer, but due to living in apartments and condominiums I haven’t had a chance to indulge it for more than a minute or two in several years.

I wasn’t so jealous that I couldn’t stop and enjoy the music, however, and in the process I’ve discovered a new local band to follow. I later found out that the festival itself has been deemed a success. I can’t wait for the next time — for either it or the band!

Photo: Caught Barefoot, uploaded by airnos

Not cropped or altered in any way. It was just right coming out of the camera. I hope that means I’ve learned something about making pictures over the past few years.

I’ve wondered about my photography sometimes. Since I started shooting again in 2001, I’ve spent several thousand dollars on equipment, classes and activities; yet I’ve questioned whether there has been any progress or improvement at all.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not going to stop taking pictures anytime soon. The reasons I do it are as much about my own sanity and relaxation as they are about the pictures, or the joy of sharing them with others. It’s just that I don’t like the idea of being static in terms of personal development. I’d like to know that I’m further along than I was ten years ago.

That’s why I was so glad to see this picture. I took it “just for fun” after several shots that I had quite deliberately composed in order to practice basic rule-of-thirds composition. Although I’d left the camera set up from those, this is essentially a snapshot. Yet the overall quality is much better than a similar photo I took in the same general location several years ago — even though I did less work with it in post-processing.

I am evolving; I am changing; I am improving. My faith maintains my belief in that much of the time, but it’s nice to see clear evidence as well. I’m not the best photographer out there, but I’m far from the worst, and five years from now, I’ll be better than I am today.

Photo: 2011-06-03-10, uploaded by airnos

I’m no fan of mosquitoes. To put it mildly. I’m one of those people that they tend to find extremely tasty, perhaps because my particular body chemistry is somewhat on the acidic side of the scale. As a result, my usual reaction to mosquitoes involves moving in the opposite direction.

I’m going to try and remember to appeal to a sense of vanity the next time I see a mosquito. If it works twice, it might just be a good idea.

Photo: 2011-05-30-04, uploaded by airnos

This probably isn’t some of my best work, but for some reason I find it compelling. The Tennessee Aquarium currently has an exhibit about seahorses, and I recently went up there to take a look around — and to practice keeping my hands steady at longer exposure times.

This shot is indeed handheld, but I’m proud to say that it’s only cropped for re-centering. That being said, I’ll also admit I tweaked the brightness and contrast a little to get the near-silhouette effect.

Photo: Seahorse Silhouette, uploaded by airnos

There’s a nice little break area to the side and back of the building where I work, and I often find myself out there when I can’t quite figure out what I need to shoot. This afternoon, I was trying to illustrate the concept of "place."

As I looked around, I realized that it’s likely going to be worth it to do a mini-project just focusing on this break area. I’m out there quite a bit and I actually manage to find things fairly often.

So, while it won’t be classwork, it will be a Flickr set. Who knows? It might develop into something interesting. I’m on my company’s private property, but the camera and ideas are mine.

Photo: 2011-04-18-01, uploaded by airnos

Today was a bit of a quiet day, and I stuck close to home.

Peachtree Forest Plantation, which is the condominium part of the area where I live, was built in two distinct phases. Phase I, built in 1985, clearly has a "Southern influence" in the design of the buildings. it is beautiful, and the grounds compliment it, but I’m not sure I’d want to have to walk up those stairs when they’re wet.

I live in Phase II, which was built in 1993 and has interior stairwells for the second-floor units. They’re easier to deal with and, in my view, safer, but I will admit they’re not as visually stunning as the stairs in Phase I.

Photo: 2011-04-17-01, uploaded by airnos

Say hello to the Bluebird!

I actually took delivery four weeks ago on March 19, but it has taken me that long (and about 900 miles) to figure out the car’s name. I am reasonably certain the car is female though I could be surprised.

The Bluebird is a 2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring, but the only similarity between the Elantra sedan and the Elantra Touring is the engine. The body, setup, suspension, interior configuration and all other items are from the Hyundai i30 which is sold in Europe.

Yes, that is indeed a North Carolina temporary tag. I bought the car through NCSECU‘s car buying service, and they got me an extremely good deal including a trade-in. They were willing to deliver her to Georgia for me, but there was a fee for out-of-state delivery. It was more than the gas it would cost me to drive to the Franklin, NC, branch, so I asked to take delivery there instead. Hence, the tag. The title and permanent tag will be issued in Georgia.

Since D.C. the Car was thus traded to a North Carolina dealership — and the last time I saw her was leaving Franklin with an NC dealer tag on her — this means that I still have yet to own a car that didn’t have a North Carolina tag on it at some point.

In case you’re wondering, no, nothing was wrong with D.C. In fact, I hadn’t planned on trading her this soon. This started when I called NCSECU to talk about refinancing her so I could have a more reasonable payment. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make it happen without extending the note out another three years from its original end date, and I wasn’t thrilled about the concept of potentially making payments on a nine-year-old car.

They were, however, able to give me the payment I wanted on a new car note with a new car note’s term. So in the end, I’ve wound up with a brand new car, a 38% reduction in my car payment, and a credit-union style interest rate.

Much as I loved D.C., she was a car and cars are ultimately consumer goods. I didn’t hesitate although I told the dealer that they’d better take care of her. She was a good car and I fully expect will be as good to her next owner as she was to me.

Photo: 2011-04-16-04, uploaded by airnos

I misplaced my CompactFlash readers (I have two) during my recent move and have not yet found them. This means I’ve been frustrated because I couldn’t get pictures off my dSLR. It’s been so long since I used the USB cable method that I had completely forgotten I could do it that way until a friend reminded me.

This is the first day after that, that I was out playing with the dSLR again. It was cloudy so the light was perfect, and I was working with aperture priority. As I moved on to work with some flowers, unfortunately, my battery died. This was the only flower shot I got. Go figure!

I’ve tried to start Project 365 on January 1 a few times but generally have ended up getting thrown off my rhythm by weather and/or weird things happening. I blame winter. So, this time, I’m going to try doing Project 365 from 04/15/2011 through 04/14/2012.

Photo: 2011-04-15-03, uploaded by airnos