About me and "Sometimes I Shoot Things"

I'm Isabella Kiss and I shoot things.

With a camera. My Canon EOS 60D, to be precise. (Sometimes I shoot targets with a gun too, but that is irrelevant to this blog.)

I know photography is all the rage and any one with any kind of camera can call themselves a photograher and start a photo blog or a flickr. You pay flickr $25 dollars and you can get listed as a "pro." Anyone can do it and it seems like everyone is.

But I'm not here to tell you I am a photographer. This isn't my job. Rarely have I been paid. My training has been limited. Photography is a serious interest of mine and a hobby I am contastly trying to improve at, but I am not going to call myself a photographer just yet. I'm just an artsy girl who has always loved to take photos. That is the point of this blog.

Little back story to serve as proof that I am not just jumping on the camera owning bandwagon:

I got my first camera when I was about 8 or 9. It was a film camera for kids, made of thick royal blue plastic. A camera was the one thing I had asked for that Christmas. I still vividly remember the joyous moment I opened it. I wanted to take pictures and I had been gifted with the means to do so. I don't think I ever did anything quality with that chunk of plastic, but I had fun with it. My dad would humor me and get my film developed. It was exciting to my childish self.

Eventually that camera must have worn out. I don't remember what happen to it, but there was a long period where I went though a good many disposable cameras. Then when I was about 11 I had saved up my money to buy myself a *real* camera. When I was a eleven "real" consisted of a Samsung film camera bought for something like $120 at the technology counter in Walmart. That camera was the first "expensive" thing I ever bought. I saved up all my birthday money and was so proud that I was able to purchase it for myself.

But film was losing its appeal fast. Digital cameras were on the rise. A couple years later I had saved up more money and got a Fujifilm digital for $180. THAT was cool. I had a fancy camera (or I thought so at the time- looking back it was junk and had something like 6 megapixels). Digital allowed me to become a narcissistic self-photography and pointlessly take pictures of anything I could. Aka it was cheap and required very little skill. Typical teenage girl hobby.

By my 17th birthday I needed a new digital. My family chipped in a bit and I bought an Olympus Stylus for under $300. But my interest in that was short lived. It wasn't long before my mom got a Nikon D40- a REAL real camera. A D-SLR. My mom had always had an interest in photography and wanted a camera to take pictures of my many siblings. I was jealous.

Once exposed to the world of D-SLRs my little point and shoot Olympus wasn't going to cut it. I was beginning to spend more time using D-SLR's (my mom's and the Nikon D60's belonging to my church.). I did a lot of photography for church functions and missions trips. Jeff Crandall, a professional photography who goes to my church noticed my interest, apparently thought I had some skill and a great amount of potential, offered to mentor me in photography. He has spent a great deal of time giving me assignments, having me read books, taking me to shoots, and overall trying to better my skills. I have greatly enjoyed it. My interest in photography turned into a hobby and that hobby is growing into a passion.

In August of 2010 I started saving up money to buy my own D-SLR. I saved every spare bill, and stored up change in glass jars, hoping and dreaming of the day I would no longer have to borrow my mom's camera. I did lots of research and shopped around. Finally last month I bought my very own camera- my beautiful Canon EOS 60D ($1,380). I'm in love. That camera is a thing of wonder.

This blog is going to be documenting my adventure in the world of photography. I will try and vary my subject matter but I will forewarn you that you will be seeing lots of 3 basic things:
1.candid face shots and
2. buildings and architecture and
3. macro shots of details most people don't notice in the world.
I have found I really, really enjoy those topics in particular. They take up the majority of photos. I warned you...

Right now I know some about photography. I'm working on learning more. If you like cameras, photos, or just like me, feel free to follow along with my journey to photographerhood as my Canon and I go and shoot things.


*photo of me taking pictures out a Costa Rican bus window on a mission trip, 2010. Credit to Jeff Crandall.