Photography Outing

I haven't played with my Nikon D200 in a long time. Which bothers me because it means I'm not getting any practice or any better. There are so many buttons! There's still so much to learn! I want to be inspired, to take great pictures. I'm determined to lug the camera out more often, so Staci and I went to The Huntington Library on our day off this past Friday. It was hotter than heck, but we endured the oven-like heat and took photos for a couple of hours.

Mostly been shooting in aperture mode, still trying to get a feel for it. I hope that one day it will just click (no pun intended) and that this will all come naturally to me! It will take many more outings and thousands more photos, I'm sure...

Here are some photos from the day, you can see all of them in this flickr set.

Why I love my job...

Okay, I admit it, I don't love my job all of the time. But who does? I don't think there's one person out there who likes their job every moment of every day, work can't always be roses and sunshine. How I feel about my job spans the whole spectrum of emotions. I have many moments of stress, tears and frustration. There are times when my weaknesses creep up or my fears overcome me. But along with that, I also experience moments when hard work is paid off and accomplishments are recognized. I'm at a place where smiles and laughter are plentiful and people are awed and inspired every day, where people truly care about the work they do.

And every once in a while, something very special and rare happens...I touch a life, I make a difference somehow. No matter how simple or how small that impact is, it still means the world to me.