Fresno was…

Fresno is hot. And kind of far away. And my 2 star motel was a little ghetto.

But over all it was a good weekend. And totally worth it. I think it really did me some good to step outside my comfort zone, and to stick to a commitment that scared me (and ended up costing me a pretty penny when all was said and done!).

I got a nice refresher on things I already knew. I learned a few new things that I should have already known about my camera. How to adjust settings that I spent hours hearing about in various classes but it just never stuck.

I also learned how quickly tech stuff gets outdated! My baby is only like 5 years, but lacks so many features that newer Rebels have. Oh well. We’re doing just fine.

So anywho, if you are around Fresno and are looking for a photographer for a wedding/family portraits/senior portraits/etc you should check out Mariano Friginal. He was the photographer who led the Camp Shooty workshop. Super cool guy with loads of talent!

Hopefully this weekend will be a kick off point for me. It’s time to get serious and learn and practice and shoot and learn and practice and shoot and…you get the point.

Oh, and Fresno, it was hot! did I mention that already? poor me and my spoiledbyniceweather self…yikes. Thank goodness I took my mom’s AC equipped car instead of Shaboofa the sweat inducing black box!

Also, I got charged 99cents to use my debit card this weekend! Who does that!?! And what makes it extra lame is that I was buying something that was only $1.40, but didn’t have cash. Dang. Gotta watch out for those sneaky fees!

Fresnowhere…Fresomewhere…here I come!

This weekend will put another 600+miles under my seatbelt.

Did you catch that joke? It was pretty clever. Don’t blame you if you missed it.

Anyways. I’m driving to Fresno for a workshop I’ll be attending on saturday. Yep. Fresno. Also known as “Fres-nowhere”. But on saturday it’ll be Fre-somewhere for me.

And I’m going all by my lonesome, which is kind of new for me. I usually drag a buddy along for super-fun mini roadtrips. Not this time though, I’m going it alone. It should be interesting. I hope it isn’t too “interesting” though. I seem to have special things happen whenever I’m in the car for too long. There’s a not-so-funny story that shall remain untold, and then there’s just silliness that usually occurs after one has been strapped to ugly upholstery for too long.

This purpose of the roadtrip, and the purpose of the workshop is to enlarge the “I’m a photographer” part of my brain. No surgery required, it’s an outpatient procedure. And it’s only a few hundred dollars. Yikes. It has ended up adding up to more than I would ever comfortably spend in one fell swoop. But, I’m thinking it’s gunna be just freakin’ awesome.

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s kind of a baby step towards what I want to “be when I grow up”, which is right about now. So, it’s a wee bit scary, for that fact alone. However, it’s great, I’m excited and nervous and tired just thinking about the drive.

I’ll break it up by staying in the L to the A with mi madre on thursday night, then heading up to Fresno on friday, to be there in the AM for the workshop.

Yay for hours on the road, an unknown hotel, and a group o’ strangers!

Wish me luck, por favor!

And, if you know of anywhere interesting to stop in between LA and Fresno, PLEASE let me know! I’m gunna get perdy bored all alone in a car for like 3 or 4 hours, and I know a pit stop will be necessary…

Baby Step #1

I had a great email “conversation” this morning with my Aunt. She is one of the most talented musicians I’ve ever witnessed (and not just because I’m biased), and we were talking about how scary it is to share and pursue something that is close to your heart, specifically a creative talent. It’s interesting to me how, even though she has been performing for over 20 years, and has always been gifted and was raised learning how to use that gift, fear is still something that she struggles with.

I suppose it will never go away, it’s about working through it. And if you let the fear take hold too tightly, it is allowing it to control your life. Fear can grab ahold of someone’s greatest talent and desire and lock it up in a box. And if we aren’t stepping out, and learning, and making mistakes, then we are handing over the key to fear and saying, “You’re right. I can’t do this. Why would anyone care. I should just give up.”

So, in light of this topic…I have signed myself up for a photography workshop in July! It kind of scares the crap out of me to be honest. I know it may not be a huge thing for some people. But anything that is taking a step towards what I want to do with my life is scary. I can be a very shy, timid, self-doubting, fearful person and artist. But if I continue that way, I will always be that way. If, however, I step out, trust in God’s plans for my life, and just try and make it work, I may still struggle with fear but I will atleast be trying. I will be spitting in fear’s nasty little face saying, “You’re a liar. You’re a punk. I can do this! And I’m going to!”

And the wonderful part of it all is that both my mom and aunt have both been saying, “of course you should do it! That’s a great idea”, but I was still doubting…UNTIL….I opened my email this morning to find a new message from the photographer who is leading the workshop and it says that the registration fee has been lowered! So now I was like, “Ok.fine. I’ll do it! I’m stepping out. God, you’ve got this right? Good! Let’s go!”.

Yep, baby steps.

It’s in Fresno…which is quite a drive, and by then gas will probaby be like $10/gallon! And it means a room full o’ strangers! And It’ll be like 800 degrees out there in July.

But I’m just doing it. And figuring it out as I go. I’ll keep you updated as I “figure” more out.

Yikes!