Making the Switch

I have always loved photography, and graphic design. I loved fashion! And more than the fashion I wanted my photos in the fashion magazines like W. I took every class that Cuesta College offered in photography. I was aborbed in the printing aspect of photography, the smell of aphixiator made me in love. The anticipation of watching your hard work come alive in 4 second in the developer- Wow, I wanted to do this 24-7. During my last year at Cuest,I got pregnant and pretty much though my career life was over. Marta Pelusa, A professor at Cuesta, had a long talk with me and told me, "No your life isn't over, you can do it." I used to get up at 4 in the morning to do homework and I was a single mom at the time, so it was really hard. I waitress 5 days a week and went to Cal Poly full time (16 + units). Finally, I got my degree from Cal Poly in Art and Design in Photography & Digital Imagery Concentration from Cal Poly in 2000.

When I decided that I was going to shoot weddings, I had to sell my 4x5 Cambo to pay for all the 35mm equipment and lighting I needed. I actually cried when I shipped it off to the buyer-selling that camera was hardest thing I have ever had to do, and I will never forget that day. Later that year I bought a series of inexpensive cameras trying to replace the feeling that the Cambo gave me yet the versatility to shoot weddings, 4x5 is not very realistic. I bought a Bronica, Yashica Electro GSN, Agfa Isolette Camera, Polaroid SX-70 Camera, Zeiss Ikon Contaflex, Holga with Flash and a Zorki I. I know that I want a digital medium format but with Hassleblad selling at like 23 grand, don’t think so, but I have heard though the grapevine that the Pentax 645 would be around 8 grand, and even though that is a high price, we all must follow our dreams.