I’ve been enjoying photography immensely lately. I’ve been doing some behind the scenes photographs at the Scream All You Want shoots, as well as some of my own just to keep busy. Today, I was invited to be a photographer at the Ottawa Centre Class Party for Tracey (Tom’s wife).

It will be a belly dance event, and so the lighting will be a little crazy to deal with. I have a decent 24-105mm F4.0 IS L lens that I can use for most of the wider shooting, but I’m planning on going to Vistek next week to see if I can rent a 70-200 F2.8 IS L II lens for the event as well. It should only be like $50 plus tax. I am willing to do this, despite not really being compensated for the event because it will allow me the opportunity to rent a lens before FanExpo, an event in Toronto this fall that I’m considering renting a lens to capture.

It will allow me to be further from the stage or get some really nice headshots of the dancers. Also, it will be able to deal with lower lighting conditions better than my normal lens. The only other telephoto lenses I have are the 55-250 F4.5-5.6 IS and the 75-300 F4.5-56 which are just woefully inadequate.

I recently went out and took some shots using my 75-300 and found them to really lack in image quality. I was telling Tom today that I felt like I was taking pictures with a toy rather than a real piece of photographic equipment. And course my 55-250 IS is of even worse image quality.

I never thought I would get to the point where I was too concerned. I figured anything is a step up from a point and shoot, and as such, I would get results I was satisfied with, but I’ve even been frustrated with my L lens sometimes. I don’t want to be a camera snob or anything. I’ve met a few of those, and can’t help but roll my eyes as they pull out ten grand in equipment, but I can’t help but respect the quality of shots an amateur like me is able to produce with higher quality lenses.

Back to the event though. I’ll be taking pictures and Tom will be doing video. I hope to be able to get 50+ images that are worth giving out to the dancers of the event.

I have been becoming more picky with my photography lately, as I try not to hold the shutter down and take groups of six shots at a time in hopes of getting one good one. My ratio of good shots to total shots was probably 1:50 a few months ago, and I think I’m down to around 1:10. If I had to say something about my exceptional shots, I am looking at a ratio of 1:250 a few months ago, and now probably around 1:100 today. So while my camera is still getting an intense workout, I am producing more good quality images that I am happy with.

My cousin Mark recently talked to me on Skype saying that he doesn’t favourite many of my images anymore because they are all getting really good. This is hugely flattering to me as I find him to have a better photographic/creative eye than me.

It is scary to think though that I’m less than three thousand shots away from 30,000 shutter actuations. My camera body should survive for more than 50,000, but I haven’t always babied it, and would be surprised if it gets to this point.

I have been thinking more about lenses and bodies lately as I really start doing more photography (like every warm half of the year). I would really like to start saving up for some new equipment, but unfortunately, I make less now than I used to, and as such have less disposable income. Add to that, my desire to fill out my apartment with more furniture than a mattress on the floor and my computer desk and chair, and there is little left to invest in my expensive hobby.

I can’t explain how much enjoyment I derive from photography though. A photo of mine, printed on canvas and framed should be heading towards my apartment tomorrow as CanvasPop finally ships it. I can’t wait to see how it turns out, and I hope to find the money to be able to order a few more.

I am probably going to be changing up my photography want-list in my sidebar shortly, as my wants and needs have changed with understanding my equipment options better. I am learning more about every facet of photography, and I’m looking forward to attending and photographing more events around Ottawa.