The Thinker

The Rodin bronze at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. There's been a lot of this going on recently so what else could I have chosen for my return?

I've been away a wee bit longer than I intended but I think I'm beginning to get on top of things a little now, although not quite out of the woods just yet. Thanks so much for your words of encouragement while I've been away. It really means a lot and I've been trying to keep up with your journals although I haven't really been commenting much.

Hopefully things will return to normal soon.

Training began with another decision. I wasn't really happy with the results I got from the 18-135mm kit lens from my initial shoot with Susan, so knowing I was going to need a short prime or zoom lens as my primary lens for the wedding after a wee bit humming and hawing I decided I needed to replace it. After reading some reviews I shortlisted three lens. The EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM and the EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM. Forever thinking of the future and a potential upgrade to a full frame body at some point, I decided in spite of a lovely wide aperture and image stabilisation, to stay away from the dedicated cropped sensor EF-S lens and go for one of the EF lenses. There wasn't much to choose between the other two but ultimately I decided to go with the 24-105mm lens. Lighter and longer than the 24-70mm, the image stabilisation should make up for it being a slightly slower lens.

I'd been watching some training videos a friend from work had given me for a few days by that time and it's fair to say at the start I was getting even more anxious about the impending assignment. There just seemed so much to it. But as I was watching them I began to understand I needed to plan things properly. So, after a couple of discussions with my sister as to what their plans were (hahaha, there was a lot of "I don't know" and "I hadn't thought of that") I've now got an outline for the day and I'm starting to think through the shots I need to get, when and also shots I'd like to get.

I also managed to steal the couple away to the registry office last Sunday too and have a wander around looking for locations to shoot and trying some tests. I got a couple of shots although I really still wasn't that confident in posing them so I really need to work on that aspect over the next few weeks. We had a wee chat and they have kindly agreed to put back the reception lunch booking an hour to give me more time to shoot. I'm really happy about that because having only 20 minutes or so to play with, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do anything. Need to stay on my toes though, because I'm sure that extra hour will fly by too.

So, plans are going well but I'm still fretting a little, but not as much as I was this time last week. So that's progress I guess, although I had a third trip across to Glasgow today, still looking for that perfect shooting location for the wedding shots. Still no joy. 20 days to go. On call next week, so that leaves me one last weekend following to find that spot!