One more thing crossed off "the list"

Thank you so much to everyone's wonderful responses to my last blog post about starting a business.  It really means a lot to me that you guys care enough to read along, let alone provide such encouragement.  Throughout this whole process I've really been amazed by people's generosity and support.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Since I haven't blogged since early October, I was looking back through my pictures to see just how many I never got around to posting.  There's a lot I left out, and I definitely won't catch all the way up, but I thought it'd be fun to post a few pictures anyways. 

Just a little background - originally when I thought I was going to quit Union Pacific entirely to pursue my work at Ova Ova, I thought it'd also be fun to do some photography work part-time.  I have always enjoyed photography, and the more pictures I've taken over the last few months, the more I've liked it.  I know it's so cliche - it seems like everyone is a photographer these days.  And real photographers must be really annoyed with people like me who pick up a camera and start snapping a few pictures and then call themselves a photographer.  

But it was sort of inevitable.  I think my brain is wired a lot like my dad's, and like many of you know he's done photography part-time for years.  So when my dad gave me his broken Canon 5D and I was able to get the entire shutter replaced and the camera back up and running for $200 bucks, I was totally hooked (thanks dad!).  I even had my wonderfully talented friend, Danielle, create a photography logo for me, and I laid claim on the the domain www.amandakohlerphotography.com.  That's about as far as I got when I realized there was no freakin' way I could do photography and run Ova Ova all the while working at Union Pacific 20 hours a week.  I may be crazy, but I'm not that crazy.  

So alas, Amanda Kohler Photography will remain on pause for the foreseeable future.  But I still thought it would be fun to post some pictures of the beautiful weddings I was able to attend during the second half of the year.  I really do love weddings.  Here they are in order:

Adam and Erica (Kevin and I's wonderful wedding photographers, The Moment It Clicks, were super nice and let me tag along to one of the weddings they photographed)

Nina and Robert (Kevin was an usher in this wedding.  His cousin Nina married one of his best friends, and it was a great wedding)

Jessica and Jay (One of my new friends, Emily, and I took pictures at this wedding.  I was nervous, but it was so much less nerve wracking with a second photographer - thanks Emily!)

Kait and Jake (Kait has been one of my best friends since elementary school.  I was a bridesmaid in her wedding, but still couldn't resist snapping a few pictures).

Even though I don't plan on taking on too much of my own photography work for awhile, I do plan to partner up with my dad on some weddings this year.  My dad has been doing photography professionally for years, and we've shot a bunch of weddings together, but this is the first year that he's officially opened the door to weddings.  He is a far better and more experienced photographer than I am, and having recently shopped for a wedding photographer, his prices are definitely on the lower end for his talent and what his packages include.  Here's a link to the wedding packages if anyone is interested.

So, with all that being said, I am officially crossing number 13 off the Pre-Baby Bucket List:  "Take Up Photography." When I put this one on the list I was more just hoping that I'd finally be able to remember the difference between aperture and ISO.  Let's just say I went a little over the top on this one, but I had a lot of fun crossing it off the list.

Over the last few months I've had quite a few questions from people that are interested in learning photography.... what camera to buy, what lenses, books to learn, etc.  If you are looking to get more serious about photography, I'd recommend you go with a Nikon or a Canon.  I've heard great things about Nikon, but my dad has a ton of Canon gear that he's nice enough to let me use, so it would be really silly for me to go the Nikon route.  If you're interested in buying a Canon - here's an email I sent to a friend giving the details on what I would recommend.  Obviously if you're not in the market for a camera, this information is totally useless, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case it might be helpful for anyone.

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I would recommend buying the Canon T3i (for $712) or the T3 for (for $454).

The T3i is obviously the nicer camera (and it's more expensive), but the T3 is also very nice.  

The two main differences between these cameras are:  (1) the number of megapixels and (2) high definition video.   The T3i has 18 megapixels and the T3 has 12 megapixels (more megapixels is better).  I use the Canon 5D which only has 12 megapixels and I haven't had any problems with it at all - I love it.  The other deciding factor between these two cameras is whether you want to record hi-def video with your camera.  The T3i has high def video and has an LCD that flips out so you can use the camera more like a video camera.  If you don't care that much about video, I'd go with the T3.

The standard lens that comes with the T3i or T3 is ok, but I would highly recommend buying a second lens.  If you're not going to buy at least one decent lens, I personally think it's not even worth buying an expensive camera. I have had really good luck with the Canon 50 mm 1.8 lens.  It's under $100 and since it opens up to F 1.8, you can create those professional looking photos where the subject is in focus, but the background is blurry.  You can also take pictures in lower light without a flash (and flash photography takes awhile to get the hang of).  You won't be able to do either of those things with the standard lens that comes with the T3i or T3.

Check out this link to go to my amazon store with all the products that I mentioned.  I put some Kelly Moore bags on there (those are those purse/camera bags - they are kind of expensive and not really great quality, but they are really nice for carrying your large camera around).  I also put the flash cards I recommend, and a book I liked that can teach you the basics.  I would buy 2 flash cards if I were you (definitely buy these online - they are way cheaper than at the store!).  If you end up buying anything from amazon (which amazon has some of the best prices), then I get a 4% kick-back in Amazon gift cards.  I've never tried it before, but I wanted to give it a go since we may eventually sell fertility related products on Ova Ova.  Let me know if you have any questions!!

http://astore.amazon.com/wwwlivingeasi-20

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