[показать]So, since I'm no longer going to major in Computer Information Systems and to sit for hours in front of the computer building websites, I've decided to take up photography as my new hobby. It's not a cheap hobby, I admit, and I had to max out all my credit cards to get some gear. As for now, I have Nikon d40 ($450), Manfrotto tripod ($195), Nikon sb-600 flash ($230), Nikon 50 mm 1.8D lens ($130), Cactus flash triggers ($40), light stand, umbrella, remote control for camera, and a few other little things. You get the idea...I shouldn't be allowed to have money anywhere near me! I'm planning to pay for all this stuff within next two years, which is going to add up to approximately $40 per month. Was buying all this gear a rushed decision? It sure was...but, as for now, I'm definitely having lots of fun with it.

Since my boss is coming back from Asia today, yesterday my mom and I decided to take a few pictures in the lake house, where we were generously allowed to stay while he was away. I wanted to shoot near the pool and have been trying to set up lights for about half an hour. Nothing worked well enough until I had an idea! Why not to put the light stand in the pool, so that it could be almost in front of the object. Using my mom as a model, I gave this set up a try, and finally was ready to shoot myself using the remote control. I have just got comfortable on the other side of the pool and was trying to strike a sexy pose, when my brand new $230 flash started to lean to the side right towards the water. It would have gone right under the water if not for the umbrella which kept it afloat for just a little bit longer. Fortunately, my reflexes turned out to be just great, and in a matter of seconds I was in the pool...fully dressed and with the remote control still in my hand...

I was just on time to save the flash from inevitable death, the realization of which still makes me incredibly proud! Even the little Nikon remote lived though a sudden bath. The only victims happened to be $12 used shoot thought umbrella that I got a couple of days ago and a pair of boots that I happened to wear at the moment of entering water. The former, for some reason, broke in half but was fixed with a pencil that I used to connect and hold two parts of it together; the boots, on the other hand, are still soaking wet and don't seem to come out in a good condition out of this adventure. The worst thing is that all of this turmoil was for nothing, and I wasn't even able to take one decent shot that day. The pic below is the one that was taken just before the heroic jump into the pool when the flash was still peacefully standing on the flat and dry surface to the right of me :) The second pic is the best I was able to take so far...

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