To buy or not to buy...

Canon EOS 7D

Am I nuts? I've been day dreaming about splurging on this camera called an EOS 7D. It's of the professional variety and takes absolutely amazing photos even without one of those fancy, long lenses. It was brought to my attention by a Thai friend of mine who, when off duty from his day job, takes these simply breath-taking photos. Apparently these days he supplements his income with them too. How nice would THAT be - extra dough on top of my very humble earnings in the refugee resettlement field? 

Currently I own a Power Shot SX210 IS. For a snap shot camera, it takes beautiful photos and has an impressive 14x optical zoom lens. It's a hardy camera that I've dropped a couple times, taken to the

beach (in a kayak even) and to the Masai Mara (twice). It's great for photos where everything is standing still, but try taking an action shot and your photos will look horrible. 

Though I'm based in Nairobi, I am constantly traveling for work (and when I'm lucky, for pleasure). I am constantly surrounded by all these amazing photo ops - the graceful, rolling hills of Rwanda, for instance, or the beautiful smiles of the refugee children I work to give a better chance at life. I wish I could capture such images WELL in order to better remember them myself, as well as to share them with the many who don't get to see the places I visit. Plus, let me be honest, I wouldn't mind having the back up income that could potentially come with getting good at photography with such unique subject matter all around me. I'm thinking - investment; investment in my future. 

I once pretended my little Power Shot (the previous model I owned) was a professional camera and took several photos in the rarely visited Ban Nai Soi Refugee Camp in northwestern Thailand, a stone's throw away from Burma. I took them initially as part of a Cultural Orientation project for the International Organization for Migration. The project aimed to teach illiterate Burmese refugees about the many differences between their daily lives in the camps and those that they could expect upon arrival in the United States. I went into the camps and did several day long "home stay" of sorts with a refugee family from the Karen ethnicity. As the lady of the house explained her daily routine, she allowed me to take photos of her, her children and husband. It was such a neat experience and the pictures portrayed just that. Later on I sent the photos to Oxford which in turn published them under my name on their Forced Migration site http://www.forcedmigration.org/podcasts-videos-photos/photos/karen I couldn't have been prouder!   

Anyway, my point is, I'd like to get back into photography. Embrace the art, so to speak, and really train myself in getting good. I've always had a natural knack for anything involving creativity so I think I'd end up being quite good at it if I just gave it a real try. Ahhh, but the expense of a camera like the EOS 7d is as high as a ticket to Japan and back. Get this - I just checked on Amazon only to learn that an EOS 7d is running for about $1,500! Meanwhile, my boyfriend is trying to convince me to get an IPhone 5s, but honestly I don't really have any need for such a thing. I don't really see the attraction of owning one, other than to look "cool" in the eyes of others, which really, at this point in my life is not my biggest concern. I'm more worried about where I'll be a year from now, whether my ovaries are drying up and whether I'll have enough money to support a family and my constant need to travel! haha Ahh, but to own an EOS 7D...I've heard of photographers selling photos for hundreds of dollars...imagine! And for simply practicing and loving your hobby! Plus, let's all confess, as cool as IPhones supposedly are, how many mere MONTHS will pass before folks are saying the IPhone 5s is a boring toy of the past?