Part of my moving process is sorting through everything I have and choosing how to pack it away.  Somethings I will move with me, some will be stored away, and other things  just get pitched.  One of the many stacks I have to sort through is a pile of CDs containing applications, games, and backups from over the years.  It is almost like opening a window into my past.  The copies of software I had to have which I can no longer use.  The games I needed yet no longer want to play.  I find the selection of MMORPG’s the most interesting.  Starting back in 1997 with Ultima Online the games step through my late teens and early twenties.  Representing the hours upon hours I committed to them.

I had just graduated from high school when Ultimate Online came out.  We would play in the evenings for an hour or two.  Then get together once a week and play into the morning.  This cycle repeated for most of the games in my list of MMORPG’s I have played.  I spent hours staring into those online alternative realities.  Sometimes avoiding real life.  Other times  just doing something that I loved.

Dark Age of Camelot was my favorite game, having played a variety of characters within its realm over the years.  Yet it was not my favorite game because of the game play.  More than any other world it seemed to have a unique ability to bring groups of people together on quests, missions, or just random hunting parties.  I met people there I never would in my real life.  People from all over the United States and the world.  I never thought I would do that in my life.  My reality was living in the midwest and I couldn’t imagine, at the time, living anywhere else.  Amazing how things change over time.

Well over a year ago I decided I need something more than my little point and shoot Canon.  Before I left for Washington D.C. the summer after 8th grade my dad bought a 35mm film camera for me.  It was a cheaper plastic camera we bought at a drug store a couple weeks before I left.  He told me that trip could be a once in a life time experience I should try to remember the rest of my life.  He was right and photography has been a hobby of mine ever since.

Since then I have owned several cameras and taken thousands of pictures.  Yet, photography has always only been a hobby of mine.  Something I did to record events throughout my life, but nothing I really wanted to publish.  That started to change when I began playing ultimate Frisbee.  There is something about a Frisbee flying through the air that just screams photography and somewhere in the back of my mind my feelings about capturing imagery started to change.  Then, in 2008 I took a picture of the sun setting behind a sailing ship.  After taking that picture I realized just how much I enjoy taking pictures for fun and that meant I needed a better camera.

It took a long time to buy that camera.  I didn’t want to just buy anything and I wanted to find a good deal on what I wanted.  Turns out cameras are just like buying computers.  Every year something new is coming out and if you sit waiting you will be waiting forever.  While waiting I found a photography podcast I really enjoy called This Week in Photography (TWiP) which really helped me in the buying process.  While listening to their weekly podcast I narrowed down which camera and lenses I needed to buy.  In the end I decided to buy a Canon T2i (Canon 550D) kit and a Canon 55-250 mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Lens.  I could not be happier with my purchase.  Owning a DSLR has been a much better experience than I could have imagined.  Gone is the frustration of the short 3x or 4x zoom on my point and shoot.  I could only dream about taking pictures of the moon before.  I have a lot to learn about using my camera, but I am looking forward to it.  That was one reason I went with the cheaper lens.  I can always upgrade later and I do not know what the future holds with my photography.

I really plan on using this camera once I am in Germany.  I have several projects I am interested in which will rely on using the features of my new camera.  We will just have to see what my future holds.

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras