Parry Family Chronicles: Hello Goodbye

Remember when I got my first dslr back in May 2008? In my blog post I mentioned that I couldn't wait to get it and post a million photos. I bet I'm close! I posted the very first photos I took with my brand spanking new Rebel and I have to say that taking a million photos has really helped me come a long ways. Yikes! The last blog post on this blog with photos taken with my Rebel was Grace's First Day of Kindergarten. Certainly taking a million photos improved my skills some. My Rebel was good to me and I learned to shoot on the scary Manual mode with it so it will always have a special place in my heart.

When I first started venturing into photography as a business and not just a (very expensive!) hobby David gave me the rule that I couldn't spend family money on photography equipment, only money I earned. It's actually a great rule, even if it is frustrating at times. I really think through all my purchases and spend my money 500 times before ever actually spending a dime. Last fall I had finally made enough to either improve my lenses or upgrade my camera body to full frame. I chose to buy the lenses first and it was a good decision for me. I upgraded my 50mm and bought the 85mm once I realized that I'm really a prime girl. Instead of making a big jump in camera bodies I bought a used 40D and kept my Rebel as my backup. The 40D was a nice jump and a really nice camera, but I knew when I bought it that I still really wanted to go full frame.

This spring I realized that the only time I reached for my Tamron zoom lens was when I needed to go wider then 50mm (mostly indoors studio shoots) and I realized I could sell my Tamron to fund a wide angle prime. When I was researching which wide angle prime to get I realized that if I could find a way to upgrade to the full frame I might not need a super wide lens. So I sold my Tamron and my Rebel and cleaned out my business account to buy a used 5D classic. I realize it's not the newest (the 5D iii is due to come out this fall so I'll be 2 generations behind) but neither was the 40D when I bought it. Most of my equipment has been bought used because saving up for new would take me way too long!

I realize most of you reading this blog post are probably super bored by now and have no idea what I'm talking about. Suffice it to say that as sad as I was to say goodbye to my Rebel I am even more excited to say a great big HELLO! to my 5D! I am not even a little embarrassed to say I screamed with joy when I got back to the car to drive home with it. You can ask the kids, they'll tell you just how happy I was! There wasn't a lot of light left when we got home but I still managed to take a few photos with my new camera and had the kids mimic my excited face.

Goodbye to my Rebel....