Carol's New Reality, of sorts


FlowerPower_1608, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

I’ve always been one of those people where, when life is crazy, it’s really really crazy and when it’s not? Well, it’s usually pretty quiet.

Enter the craziest of the crazies.

I’ve been thinking about what to do for my next move. I’ve been wanting to go on some “big shoot” but couldn’t quite decide what I wanted to do. I am in the (photographic) mood for doing something different. I was thinking about maybe going over to Europe, and even started looking, but I just could not commit. I’ve been meaning to go to Barcelona for a while now and still have not done a big shoot out that way, so I was maybe thinking about doing Barcelona in the fall (or some such thing.)

It’s 105 where I am today, hot, VERY hot, and it’s been over 100 in Texas since June. The early part of June. You know that part, right? The time in June when the pretty birds sing in the parks and young girls get married in white dresses without so much as breaking a sweat on their brows? Yeah, well, that didn’t happen here. It was 102 from something like June 2 onwards.

Ok, enough about the heat.

Back to the workshop. I looked around, poked, researched, added up costs, thought about what I wanted to do, and just pondered a bit. Thought about going up New Mexico way but I’ve been to Santa Fe several times recently, it’s still not really cool there-in fact, it’s what they call “monsoon season” on account of the heavy rains and storms that wash across the desert this time of year. Santa Fe was kind of out for me, even though I do want to go back again and gain. I went to Hawaii earlier this year so I wanted to do something…different. You know, someplace I’ve not been to before. I kind of wanted to go to Europe again but I couldn’t really fully commit if that makes sense. I poked and I prodded and I finally found a workshop going to Iceland. Yes, that Iceland. The place with the…glaciers? In August? Yeah, that place. So I booked my workshop. Yesterday, I sat down at my computer, sent the email and pulled the trigger as it were.

Then, I decided that, since I was going on this wonderfully fabulous new trip, I would need a new camera. A nice new camera. To, you know, to hold up over all of that “bad ass glacier action” I’m about to enjoy. I think. (Does one enjoy bad ass glaciers? Gosh, since I’m going to be up close and personal with one soon enough, I certainly hope so.)

So, what did I do about the camera?

My 7D has been acting up. It’s working but it’s got the weird focusing issue plus the LCD panel is crooked and falling. It’s got a bezel issue. It’s still under warranty so I can still get it fixed but I don’t want to depend upon it for anything at this point. I feel like, though I absolutely love that camera, it’s on shaky ground if you know what I mean.

After several years of being one of the self-proclaimed “cheap camera connoisseurs,” I’ve gone off and bought a Canon Baby Mark camera. Yes, I’m now going to be shooting a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera in Iceland sometime very soon now.

Me? From Texas. Going to Iceland. The place with the glaciers. With a not-so-crappy camera this time. Even a nice new big camera? What is the world coming to? Is this like normal? Do you feel like some kind of anti/alternate universe rising up and has it already swallowed us all and I just didn’t notice? Is this the “real” me? Are people now going to stop me on the streets and say things like, “what have you done with the ‘real’ Carol?!?”

Now I’m feeling a bit disconnected. A bit odd. Even a bit out of sorts. For me, this new big honking killer camera is kind of like buying a new car, house, whatever. I’ve got that “did I really just do that?” moment rushing through my veins. And it’s scary. And fun. All at the same time. It’s scary and fun and now I really want to go tromp across a glacier with crampons and a shiny new not-so-crappy camera. At least, I think I do anyway. (Does that even make any sense at all?)

Maybe I’m just crazy from the heat but this workshop was so just pulling me. It’s 105 in the freaking shade and I want to go sit on a glacier with a shiny new camera and play. Is there something so wrong about that? About any of that? Isn’t that what photography is supposed to be all about? (Please don’t tell me it’s model releases and insurance forms because I think, at this point anyway, I would really loose it.)

Right about now, I need some kind of morale support, a stiff drink perhaps, maybe even a pinch and possibly a new ceiling fan because, well, it’s still 105 degrees out there in the freaking shade. Oh, and I’d really like it if you could send some links, stories, or just “yeah, you go girls!” about Iceland so I know what it looks like too.

I feel like I’ve walked into an entirely new reality. Like I’m on some kind of freight train that’s barreling down the tracks at 300 miles an hour and I just barely even noticed we’re even moving. I know people always exaggerate things like “that’s so surreal” but this time, why I actually mean it.

Iceland in 2011 with a baby Mark. It’s bound to be different, that’s for sure.

Until next time…

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