Life, Cameras, and What Not

Well, the girls have been gone visiting my family since Tuesday, so it's been blissfully quiet around here. I'm kind of glad it was yesterday, though. I got hit with probably one of the worst headaches I've had in a long time. I had a bit of a headache when I left to go to CVS. But, being outside in the heat, humidity, and with the sun (I am very sensitive to sunlight, it hurts, and more often than not, I'm squinting if I'm outside), caused it to just explode.

That was at about 3pm. I came home, took 3 Tylenol, because we were out of Excedrin, and laid down. About the time Nick got home at 5:30, I took a Darvecet, which for me, is a last resort, because I don't like taking narcotics. I take them if I absolutely have to. I can't take more than 1 (well, I -can-), because they make me sick. Around 7, I was still in a LOT of pain- moving my head at all hurt even more. We finally ventured out to Walmart at 10:30 to get some excederin, and I took 2.

Between all of the medication, it was still 4am before the headache finally started to go away somewhat, enough that I wasn't in total agony. I took another darv around 7am, so I could knock it completely away, and get some sleep. In orther words, yesterday SUCKED.

Today, Nick took the day off. He had 4 hours free time for working late twice last week, so he only had to use 4 hours PTO, plus it was pay day, AND his quarterly bonus came in.

We were able to sleep in, (ok, not "in" so much for me, since it was nearly 8am before I fell asleep, but still...), my most recent portrait order came in, so we delivered portraits, picked up his bonus check, did some frugal Hobby Lobby shopping, went to a movie, and went out to dinner- all without worrying about the kids being home.

What else? Oh, yes, Cameras.

I started getting into the portrait business this year. I've been pretty busy, actually, and while I'm not making much money from it, I've still enjoyed it, a lot. I love when prints come in, and I get to see what my photos look like, all blown up.

My downside? Well, most real photographers would either be flabbergasted, or laugh their heads off. I still use just a point & shoot camera. Granted, it's an advanced point & shoot, probably about the closest you can (or at the time) get to an SLR. It's a pricey one, coming in at nearly $400, and it does do a great job.

But, it has limitations. And frankly, if I were to do something with a real photographer, they'd just laugh. I wouldn't blame them. But, money isn't just -there- for a camera, not when they're as expensive as they are.

However...

Nick has a coworker (or former, last Friday was her last day) who is way into photography. In fact, she has several SLR cameras, and over the past year or so, hasn't done much with them. She's looking to sell two of them, so we're talking about prices, models, etc.

The first wasn't that great. In fact, with lenses, it sells for less on eBay than the camera I'm using sells for on eBay. My camera model actually sells for close to retail. The one she's selling, goes for $150-250, depending on lenses, and accessories.

The other one? Well, that's the beautiful camera. I'm in love with it. It's a Canon EOS-1D Mark II, and it sells for close to $3500, body alone. She's asking $800 for it. And, we just got a bonus check today, which would almost, not quite, cover it.

It's the body alone, I would still need lenses for it, but Nick has another recently made former coworker who said he has a lens for it that would work beautifully for portraits. It's a Tamron AF28-75MM lens.

I'm both excited, and dreading it, because I'll have to re-learn how to take photos using the manual settings. And, the idea of having a camera that expensive with me scares me.

But, I'm eager to learn. I really, really want the camera, and Nick has been pushing for me to get it. It would be a nice camera, and I know his coworker takes excellent care of her cameras. So, we'll have to wait and see!