I’ve wanted a nice camera since I was a kid. The main thing holding me back was money.

When I was 8, someone bought me a Polaroid camera. I loved that thing, but film was too expensive, so I hardly got to use it. As a former Air Force Brat, My family just couldn’t afford the film; we rarely had enough money for small luxuries like that.

Then, when I was in art school, I bought a really nice film camera. I also loved that one, too–I think it was some sort of Nikon 35 mm. I would convince one of the girls living in my dorm to hop on a cable car and go shoot photos with me.

In San Francisco.

Late at night. (Definitely not the best or safest idea.)

One of my roommates from art school was working as an intern for a casting agency and brought home an enlarger they were just scrapping. She taught me how to develop my own film and create beautiful prints. We did all of this in the cramped closet of a San Francisco apartment with poor ventilation. I’m sure we took a decade off of our lives that day, inhaling those fumes. I loved being an artist; I was studying to be a Fashion and Textile Designer. I don’t know if I was just in a bad place in my head and in my heart (my sister passed in a tragic accident shortly before I decided to upend my life and become an artist), but the expensive San Francisco lifestyle and constant partying caught up to me. I dropped out of art school. One of my classmates told me that my favorite instructors said she was sad to see me leave and I instantly regretted my decision. Of course, at the time, I had no problem disappointing myself and others.

After my first marriage and subsequent divorce, I left that camera at my ex-husband’s house.

I finally decided to get another camera. In December of 2021, I bought a Fujifilm X-S10. Even with the global shortage of components and a shipping delay, it arrived on my birthday. It felt like it was meant to be.

There are some things that are innate and feel intuitive when it comes to photography–however, after owning this camera for some time, I realize there’s a lot to learn. I’m taking a class through Udemy; reading the owner’s manual; watching anything and everything I can get my hands on. Not to mention, I’m also trying to learn Photoshop (because, why not throw another thing to learn in there :D). In my post, Introduction, I wrote that I’m a “shadow artist trying to find my light.” I definitely feel that one of my biggest regrets in life was not pursuing my dream of becoming an artist. I’m trying to turn it all around and align myself with that path again.

Here’s a behind the scenes candid.

I learned a lot trying to shoot this. Mainly, I learned that you should probably hire a real model for your shoot. 😀 Otherwise, constantly check your hair and makeup. Starting clockwise from the upper left corner, I loved this one but I had to Photoshop lipstick off of my teeth. In the upper right corner, I cloned the background, which brings me to my next lesson–have a good backdrop or maybe set one up/buy one. The photo directly beneath that one was a candid taken when I was trying to put my hair up. The final bottom image, I used object selection to just cut and paste myself into a plain background. I did have Bram Stoker’s Dracula hair, so I fixed that, too ;D. The featured image (the one at the very top of this post and the preview image) is the one I ended up liking the most.

I’ll link the camera and ring light I used. (Yes, they are affiliate links.) But I would also like to know how creating and editing your photography is going for you? Any recommendations for courses or resources? Thanks again for being here with me! xoxo Kat

Fujifilm X-S10 Kit https://amzn.to/3XjPCo6

Amazker 18 in RGB Ring Light Kit https://amzn.to/3iIhN1d