Decisions, decisions, decisions

     I'm starting this blog to record my journey in photography. 

    I'm 23, graduated college two years ago. I'm working full time now, and because I have access to adult money, I've decided to first invest in getting equipment for a hobby I've always wanted to start: photography. Throughout the years, I've seen so many photo reels on instagram on tips to make photos better, cool tricks to do with your camera or phone, and with the money it would have cost me to upgrade my iPhone 13 (they're old in 2025, no?) I decided to keep my phone and get a used camera instead. 

    I bought into the hype and I got a Fujifilm. For a week or so, I was searching on MPB, BestBuy, comparing what cameras I could get new and used, what the best value would be, what I wanted to get out of my camera, and ecetera. I couldn't tell you how many reddit posts I googled and read on this. I ended up wanting either the Fujifilm XT-3 or XT-2, for its supposedly glamorous capture of the yellow and golden colors. I struggled between Fujifilm and Sony, especially the Sony A7C or A7Cii, just because my friend has one and he takes beautiful pictures with it. It feels like I can take a good picture if only I had a good camera... right? 

    So one of the nights, I was just browsing on the web once again, googling "Fujifilm xt3" "Fujifilm xt30ii" "Fujifilm xt2" and on and on... when I found a random online pawn shop selling the Fujifilm XT-3 with a prime 35mm lens for $799. Just to put into perspective how crazy that is, I was just trying to get a pretty decent setup for around $1000 and it felt like I could only get a body for that even with looking at used cameras, and then break another $200-300 for the lens. Thus, the payment felt very acceptable in every way. I was praying that this was the reason I wasn't able to sleep and stayed up till 2AM that night. 

    When it arrived, miraculously in beautiful condition, I was ecstatic to see that it was every bit powerful as I had hoped it would be. Of course, I did miss the zoom lenses that I had with my DSLR, Canon Rebel T6, but it was time for an upgrade with all the manual settings I was able to control at the tip of my fingers. I traded the zoom for portability and power. 

    It's about a month of owning this camera, and so far I have no regret. I'm just looking forward to saving money for a new lens, and hopefully growing my line of cameras at my disposal.