I realized recently that it’s been almost exactly five years since I decided to go down the photography road. In the spring of 2009, I was surfing the internet trying to decide how to spend my income tax refund. I had always wanted a good camera, and vowed to get one when my little Nikon Coolpix died. Problem was, it refused to die. Then I thought, why do I have to wait for my camera to break down before I can get a better one? That day, I ordered a Nikon D60 with a 28-55mm kit lens. My first DSLR. Little did I know at the time, that decision would change my life.

The day it arrived, I was so excited! As soon as the battery was charged, I was outside with it.  I had no idea how to do anything besides put the dial on “auto” and press the button. I just knew having a good camera was the key to good photos. At the end of the day, I uploaded my photos to the computer to see how much better they were going to be than the ones from my old camera. That day, I learned two things. One, it’s not the camera that makes great images, and two, I wanted to be a great photographer. Since that day, I have been relentless in my pursuit. I’m not even close to being a great photographer yet, but five years seems like a good milestone to reflect back from.

Over the next few months, after I got my hands on that first DSLR, I began to understand not only what it means to be a great photographer, but how much effort it takes. I had to learn what aperture means, what ISO is, and how they combine with shutter speed to produce exposure. I had to learn what focal length means, what depth of field is, and how to determine hyperfocal distance. I had to learn what metering is, how to do it, and the differences it makes. If doing this well meant I had to read my camera manual a dozen times, I was there. If it meant taking a class to learn how to use Photoshop, I was there. If it meant getting up before the sun to catch the light at a particular place, or missing dinner to catch the sunset at another place, or lugging a tripod with me on a five mile hike to get a shot of a waterfall, I was there. If it meant trying, and trying, and trying again before I finally got the result I wanted, I was there.

I thought it would be fun to share some of those early photos here, and compare them to more recent images. Here is a flower I shot back in 2009:

I had no idea where the focal point was, I let the camera decide. Apparently, it decided the front of the leaf should be in focus, not the flower. Here is a more recent flower:

One of my first attempts at a beach sunset:

At that point, it’s easy to see that not only was focus eluding me, but exposure as well. Here is a recent beach sunset:

Over the past five years, I’ve upgraded the camera twice and acquired various lenses, filters, tripods, software, and other gear. I can say for sure that getting a new piece of kit doesn’t make me a better photographer. It generally gives me more options, or allows me to overcome certain limitations that I ran into. But, with each new thing, comes a whole new learning curve and new challenges. I spend more hours doing this than I ever spent doing a full-time job. Then again, photography is more to me than a hobby or a fun way to fill my leisure time. It’s my life, my purpose, my passion.

In 2010, I decided to give wildlife photography a try, since wildlife is so abundant in this area. However, my first attempts at it were so awful that I didn’t even keep any of the images. All I could find were some images from 2011:

It was mostly trial and error since I had read so much information on the internet, I didn’t know what to believe. The above eagle was shot at 1/800, f/5.3 and ISO 100. The one below was shot at 1/2000, f/7.1 and ISO 1000:

There was a time when I would look at work by great photographers and say to myself “I’ll never be able to do that.” Now I look at a great image and ask myself “what do I need to learn in order to be that good?” There was a time when I would see a great photograph, and set out to create one like it. Now I see a great photograph and set out to create a better one.

I could come up with many more examples of the progress I’ve made, but suffice to say, I’m getting there. Maybe someday I will be a great photographer. Or maybe I will die trying. Either way, I can’t imagine a better way to spend my life.