A year ago today.

It was Monday June 27th 2011 at about 7:00pm, I remember it like it was yesterday......

I was sitting in the front of our little blue Saturn with my hands smashed between my legs. 

My mind was racing as fast as the car raced down the interstate highway, and I was sure that everyone could hear my heart pound in my chest. 

Will I be on time?  I thought to myself, Will it still beet there? 

I bit my lip and rolled down the window, the fresh summer air greeted me with warmth and helped me relax. As I did, my fear and anxiety turned to excitement and anticipation. This was the day that probably change my life (as well as the lives of many others).

This was the day  I would get my first D-SLR* camera.
It was a huge step for me and it had taken three plus years of praying and saving up money and plenty of dreaming to get to this place. I was ready.
Yes, I was ready when we stepped into the well air conditioned Costco. We headed for one of the checkouts where we were to find the camera that we had called and reserved a hour ago. I could hardly keep my feet from breaking into a run.
"You are here for the camera?" the cashier asked "what is the name?"
We gave him our last name.
"Yes we have got it, it is a good thing you reserved it, we have none left besides that one."
I breathed a sigh of relief. For days we had been waiting for the order of cameras to come in. As soon as we had learned that the order came in we reserved one for us to pick up.
My mom is brilliant.
The man went into a back room and came back carrying a large white box. He laid it in my eager hands and in a few moments the camera was mine.
Let me tell you, I don't think I have ever said two words so much in my life, "Thank you! Thank you!" God had blessed me beyond my imagination, He was the only reason I had this camera in my hands at that moment.
Back int he car, with trembling hands and a overflowing heart I ripped open the box.
Out came the camera body.
Out came one lens.
Then another.
I placed the lens on the camera, the memory card in the slot, and slowly looked over the layout, then I took my first picture.

Since that first picture I don't think many days have gone by without my camera at my side snapping away.
That night was one of the most sleepless nights I have ever had, but also one of the happiest. I remember getting out of bed at 4:00am and reading my new camera manual.
This may sound like an odd story, full of unneeded emotion.
 It was just a camera! you might say, but it was not about the camera for me, it was about how God had answered my prayers so faithfully. How he had blessed me so amazingly, and you know what, He is still blessing me a year later.
So, because it has been a year, I thought I would do a post on what is in my bag/what equipment I have and tell you a short story about the day I got my camera.

My first lens is a wide-angle 18-55mm lens. I love being able to take great landscape pictures with this lens. It has a fast focus and is very sturdy.

My next lens is an 55-250mm zoom lens. I love this lens, it handles so well, and the bokeh it makes is  amazing. 

With my 55-250mm I have a nice lens hood my little brother gave me for my birthday. 

And last is my very favorite lens, my 50mm (f/1.8). This lens handles low-light situations amazingly, and is the lens that is always on my camera. 

This is my external flash it is a YN560-II, I got it for a good price off Amazon.
I am not a big flash fan, but external flashes really are fun.

I also have a remote shooter, a couple memory cards, 1 extra battery (plus the one I keep in my camera), and a stack of business cards.

And this is my hunk of a case.
I love my case, it fits all my equipment so well, and is very well padded so I never have to worry about my stuff getting broken.

And of course, my camera body is a Canon EOS Rebel T2i.
I love it, and it has been a great camera for the last year, I really have not had any problems with it and am very happy with what it does.

Well folks, that is what I've got. I hope to add to it as the years go on. 

I hope you are having a lovely June 27th. 

And now I am going swimming, because it is very hot out and I love swimming.

Yours Truly, 

Mackenzie Hope 

An Co (Camera equipment) 

*D-SLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex