Lou Gaudry
In life, we all have challenges, and I am certainly no exception. Our challenges may be small or maybe big, but they're still all challenges to overcome. But what about the challenges that we take on because we want to? Why do we do this? Is it to prove ourselves to others? Or do we do them for the sake of the challenge, to succeed at them, and feel good about ourselves. Let’s not forget the bragging rights to ourselves that we tried something new and that we succeeded at it. Plus, know that we're capable of doing anything that we put our minds to. Well, that’s what I did in 2017. I took on a new challenge. Why? Because I wanted to, rather than to prove to anyone that I could do it.
I’ve always had an interest in photography as long as I can remember. I remember taking photography in high school when there were no digital cameras, just film cameras. I always thought it was cool that you could develop pictures to see the results on photo paper. As I got older, I had an interest in Web designing. So, I took a course at Red River College. In that course, one of the classes was digital photography. I learned a lot, but there was still one problem. I could not handle the camera. The reason for that was that I could not hold the camera up high enough for me to look in the viewer. I tried using tripods, but they didn't work well for the pictures that I wanted to take.
In 2017, I made a new friend on social media by the name of Trish Jackson in Australia. She is a Thalidomider, just like me, who understands the challenges and struggles when it comes to figuring out how to handle a camera. With camera technology, the one thing they did that made it easier for me, and probably for my friend Trish, was the flip-out viewer. Things were starting to look up.