Hi! I’m Shawn. I’m a lifelong frustrated creative who thinks he may have finally found his outlet. I’ve attempted to be a comic book artist, a fantasy illustrator, a fine art painter, a printmaker, a watercolorist, a guitarist (rock, blues, and classical), a bassist, a ukulele player, a shakuhachi player, a harmonica player, a poet, a writer of short stories, an essayist, a critic, a humorist, anonymous online troll, diarist, and lots and lots of other attempts to articulate the way in which I see the world. But, now, I think I may have found that outlet.

Photography.

A few years ago, when Instagram was more photography oriented, I liked to mess around with taking pictures of objects and scenes I found interesting. Then run them through the in app editor before posting them. It was a lot of fun looking for photos to take. From there I thought buying a dedicated camera would be enjoyable.

It wasn’t.

I had a vague idea of what kind of photos I wanted to take but no knowledge of the right kind of camera to buy. I bought a not inexpensive point and shoot that I found slow and confusing to use. I took a trip to DC to try out the new camera. However, I found it was slow to respond and confusing to use. I returned it. I still wanted to keep trying so I bought another camera. An entry level camera that allowed lenses to be changed. I thought that now I would be on my way to taking the photos I could see in my mind.

I wasn’t.

The camera was a step up but I couldn’t figure it out. Sometimes it would refuse to take the photo as I pressed the shutter. A lot of the time it would pop the flash even though I didn’t want the flash. Again, I was frustrated with the taking of the photos. I knew the photos I wanted to take but couldn’t make the camera take those photos. I’d mess around with it for a day. Get frustrated and set it down for a week or two. Try again with the same frustrating results. I bought books. I watched YouTube tutorials. I downloaded flash cards for the right camera settings for the right kind of picture. Yet, I still could not figure out how to use the blasted thing.

I had a long term relationship end, and I was having a difficult time. One technique for dealing with a broken heart is to plan something for yourself. A trip, maybe. Something to break the immediacy of the pain because it gives you something to look forward to. To get out of your own head. I signed up for a one night a week, 6 week long intro to photography class. My goal, to help with my heartache and learn to use my camera. I couldn’t predict where the heartbreak would be by the end of the course, but I did know that if I was still struggling with the camera at the end I was going to sell it all, add photography to my list of failed creative endeavors, and look for something else.

I showed up on a Monday night with seven other people. Within the hour, I was introduced to the exposure triangle and how to adjust those settings on my camera. It all came together for me. The ‘ah-ha’  moment had arrived. I might be on to something here.

At the end of the six weeks, I had a handful of photos I was proud of. Photos that others enjoyed looking at. An understanding of my camera and what it could do and what it could not do.

I had become a student of photography.