The Way I View “Happiness”

I had all sorts of ideas for this month’s post, but what I kept circling back to when I considered happiness was photography. Besides my friends and family, photography is my greatest joy in life. And this month in particular was momentous for me. I am definitely a believer in learning to get the most out of what you have, and that the lowliest of cameras can produce works of art in the hands of a good photographer. And I believe too in spending money on great glass over new camera bodies. I have been using my beloved Canon 40D for a very long time now, and I have cherished every minute of it. But in the last year especially, it’s difficulty with low-light situations and it’s few number of focus points was beginning to limit me. I had outgrown my camera. So I have been waiting with baited breath for the mythical Canon 5D Mark III to be released. I had heard so much about focusing issued in the Mark II, and I loved the 7D but wanted the high-ISO capability of full frame, so I waited ever so patiently for Canon to create the camera of my dreams. I watched CanonRumors rather obsessivly, and the day the Mark III was finally announced, I put in my preorder with Joel over at Adorama. When it finally came, I knew immediately that this was the beginning of a very long and happy friendship. This camera met and even exceeded the hype—it truly is everything I could want in a camera and more!

The focus is spectacularly sharp and accurate, even in difficult lighting situations such as dark rooms or backlighting. I can easily take photos in my living room at night without the flash. The white balance straight out of the camera is warm and soft and dreamy—perfectly suited to my style. All of these images are SOOC (straight out of camera)—they are not edited AT ALL except to size for the web. They are all taken with the Canon 100/2.8L.

I was hoping to manage a photo shoot with Emily this weekend in our favorite field, but she hasn’t been feeling well, so this is all I got of her with the new camera (this was yesterday when she was just pale; today she’s flushed and super feverish—poor baby!). But see how gorgeously bright it is? My living room is so dark even in the daytime (and especially when it’s dark and stormy out, like it was yesterday), and this camera handles it like a champ. (And I think the image shows happiness too, because Rory is so puffy and content sleeping on her—I just love how Rory scoots up as close as she can get to our cheeks when she wants to snuggle! She fell asleep there with Emily…)

And an added bonus? Is that I don’t have to say goodbye to my 40D, because it’s going to Emily, where it will continue it’s long and happy life in our family! (And it also means I have a back-up camera–just to be safe!)

Please continue our happy little circle to see how Sarah Combio views “Happiness”!