A Bridge - A Crossroads.

I am hoping as the days grow longer and the weather gets warmer, that I will be able to get out and do some more shooting. The winter months are depressingly cold and wet and I tolerate the wet and snow out here. If it was dry and cold, it wouldn't be as bad, like my old hometown in the Prairies (Edmonton). Though as a Vancouver Canuck fan in Edmonton Oiler Country, it would probably not be conducive to my hockey-loving health.

I want to get out to George C. Reifel when I pick up my TC-20EIII and go out and do some shooting of some wildlife at 400mm. As well as go down to Serpentine Fen and Boundary Bay. Just the opportunity to get some landscape shots of the wildlife area would be nice.

For the next few months until I can get my TC-20EIII, I'm going to concentrate on my blog. Practice, edit photos, etc. Get out and get in behind the viewfinder and be able to do some shooting. Practice, get my exposure right, get my skills up to where they should be. Photography is a learning curve and I'm still learning just as everyone else is.

The other part of the equation is whether I want to throw myself into the meat grinder that constitutes a professional photography career. The questions of "do I have what it takes". Do I want to spend $11,000 on a Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4 VR and not make any money with it, but just buy it because I want it...and be able to do the shots I'd want just for my own pleasure? This is a bridge and a decision making point as in the illustrating photo. I'm a birder first and foremost. I enjoy birding for the love of it. But there is that competitive drive in me to be good at what I do. It's what make me happy and no matter what. That's the most important thing in life, is to be happy at what you do.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.- Steve Jobs

That is the mantra that I'm following for the rest of the years that are left to me. I've received a sharp reminder from a good solid photographer to not let my ego get in front of my skills. His admonition of "concentrate on your skills and polish them: To do your best with every shot (and some of those shots that I have posted haven't been my best that I could bring to the table) rings true to this day". I have been guilty of letting my ego ride before my skills. Thank you for the reminder, Gilles Korent.