Equus Luminous

As you all know from my incessant whining, I've been wistful the last few...well, years, actually, about not having a good camera with which to satisfy my ever-present yearning to produce good photographs. My collection of 35 mm Contax cameras, along with their beautiful Zeiss lens accomplices, sit gathering dust mites on my high closet shelf. My ancient Mamiyaflex hasn't been handled in so long it's probably rusted.

And living in Arizona doesn't drive me to go out and shoot anyway, not the things I like to shoot...a fat, fuzzy bumblebee landing purposefully on an Echinacea flower, the soft, delicate shapes of the blooming dogwood flower or the blue-misted expanse of the Blueridge Mountains I miss so much in Virginia. My obsession with expensive German cameras hinders me; it's time to let go of that ideal and start saving for something more in my price and experience range.

Today I'm feeling a tad more realistic. I want to own a successful photography business. Until then, I will shoot simply for the joy it gives me to do so. And I will seek out and thoroughly enjoy the work of other fine photographers.

Which leads me to Equus Luminous (and it only took a day to get here!). I stumbled upon this website while looking at pictures from the San Tan Veterans' Memorial dedication. I clicked on the portrait gallery of people without horses first, since I'm not necessarily a horse lover (nor am I not; I'm just a casual admirer, I guess). These portraits speak from the page! They communicate feeling and depth and that's why I've never strived to be a portrait photographer; I can't achieve that! Surely Mel (Melanie) Levy is a photo genius!

So, fascinated with this gallery, I moved on to the next...and the next, and eventually looked at every picture on that website. And each one was more beautiful and spectacular than the previous one! I began to think, "If only I had the right camera, I could take pictures like this!"

And then I woke up this morning and drifted back to reality. I realized, of course, that it's not the camera. It's the talent that flows from the person behind the camera. Mel Levy's talent flows like Niagara (I'm not quite sure why this woman isn't shooting for National Geographic). Can I just hate her? No, I can't; she was kind enough to answer the email I sent inquiring about digital cameras and what she would suggest, which was really sweet of her and which has helped me focus in (no pun intended) on what cameras to consider.

Okay, enough melodrama for one day! Do yourself a favour and go browse Mel's galleries. ( <--click to go there!)