This was an amazing week for me. The best part is most of it wasn't even that good for me. Everything started off great. After work on Monday I had my training session and was very happy to hear from my trainer that she thought I would make a good trainer because I have the ability to push myself. This is a path I have thought about taking over the last few months but have been a little self conscious about. I was able to attend a Phoenix Coyotes playoff hockey game in which they won and closed out a series on Monday night. That was one of the most memorable live sporting events I have ever been to. There was a major drawback to being able to attend the game though. I wake up at 4am during the week so I can be at work at 5:30am. The game wasn't over until around 10pm and then there was the matter of getting out of the crowded parking lot, dropping some friends off and getting dropped off as home myself. Needless to say I did not get much sleep that night and it affected me the rest of the week. By the time Wednesday rolled around I was extremely tired. Wednesday morning was when it happened. I was on my third angry screaming customer call of the day when it finally hit me. I am going to have to go into a little background for this next part so bear with me. A few months ago one of my wife Jessica's cousins posted a link on her Facebook about a local photography competition open to all photographers in the Phoenix area. Jessica was really pushing me to enter but I was very hesitant since I have only been taking pictures since Christmas. Over the last couple of months I had been going back and forth in my head about doing it but never really reached a clear decision. Jessica even stopped asking me about it because she wanted me to make the decision for myself. Finally, on Wednesday while I was getting yelled at by a cranky lady in New Hampshire about a lapsed life insurance policy the decision was made. See, I work in customer service, a call center to be exact. I hate call centers and I hate customer service but for some reason I am good at it and my bills need to be paid so you do what you've gotta do. In the middle of this ladies pointless rant I realized that this is not what I want to do with my life. In fact, it is pretty far from what I want to do. That was when I made the decision to participate in The Shutter Release Project. When I got home that afternoon I filled out the enrollment form and submitted it with a sample photo. A couple of hours later one of the organizers called me to welcome me aboard and also gave me the good news that there was a sponsor available that will donate $100 toward my entry so I will only have to sell 10 tickets instead of 20. He also let me know that the following day they were going to meet and do a walk through at the venue. I immediately knew I made the right decision. Unfortunately for me I came down with the stomach flu the next day and was absolutely miserable at work. I toughed it out though and was able to go to see the venue and meet some of the other photographers. I am so excited to be participating in this event and can't wait to see everyone's work.
This is going to be a great opportunity to meet and mingle with people in the photography business in the Phoenix area and compare my work to other artists. It would be a dream come true to somehow get into the photography industry and out of a call center. The greatest thing is I will have a small platform to display my vision and how I see the world even if it is only for a few hours on one Saturday night.
This photo is my favorite I have taken so far. The wind chime was purchased by Jessica and I on our honeymoon 7 years ago. It has weathered several storms just like we have and continues to creates beauty even when conditions are not perfect.
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