I’ve Become the Sheldon Cooper of Photography

I’ve become a photo geek. After being thrust into snapping pics for my job, it was sink or swim. Or maybe it was extended trot or piaffe. I had to get some shots to go with news stories and, with the patient of help of photographer extraordinaire Susan J. Stickle, I was taking “pro photos.”

I got better. Sold some photos, including a cover to “Dressage Today.” I decided I needed to improve, as my shots were just “meh” and it was time for some training.

Fast forward to Full Monty Photo Nerd. I buy more equipment than I should. My new favorite lens is my wide-angle (10-22 mm f/3.5-4.5). I attended a killer photo workshop in New Mexico and I belong to websites allowing me access to scores of how-to videos. I already know what camera I want for Christmas (a Fujifilm X-T10  Mirrorless Digital  with  an 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens), if I don’t break down and buy one before then. I am going to  San Francisco and Sonoma soon and I am RENTING my newest camera obsession to try while there. I joined a 30-day online  challenge to document the waning days of summer with my iPhone.

Yep. Full on photo geek.

Not only do I embrace it, but I know it will be an asset for Weakley Dressage. Thanks to the recent workshop with famed Marlboro Man photog Norm Clasen, both my eye and my skill for “artsy fartsy” shots are sharpened. I am beginning to understand how to use natural light. Depth of field is my friend. I am hoping to join a workshop in Cuba next spring that Norm is teaching.

It’s nice to know that my reputation as a grammar nazi, my obsession with words, my love of horses, and now my mad new photography skills have increased my sum total of geekdom. I embrace it. But, I stop short at “Star Wars.” That’s just too far over the precipice. And I don’t have a lens long enough to shoot that.