I had no shooting style at that time, but I still took their advice. I shelved the Canon T3i and saved for a 60D. This pattern took place for a while, every time I ran into a problem I would blame my gear. I wasn't getting bokeh in my images at 24mm with the 24-105L, so I sold it for the Sigma 18-35 (funny how sigma was a frowned upon brand, but I dropped $800 on a lens no problem). The Sigma was great, shooting at f/1.8 was awesome, I never took full advantage of the lens as I shot on JPEG but it stayed with me for a while.

One day at the park I met a friend and I told him I was going professional, I had a few gigs under my belt and I wanted to take freelancing seriously. He wished me good luck and gave me a few pointers, as we were talking I noticed he had a Zeiss lens on his camera, I asked him to shoot with it and with no hesitation he let me. His exact system was a Canon 5D Mark II and the Zeiss Distagon T 35 f/2. All I knew at that moment was that I was shooting with at least a $1000 lens. I looked through the viewfinder and it was huge, I was able to see everything. I took some pictures and the quality was flat out amazing, far better than anything I had ever taken on my camera. I went back to him and explained how amazed I was, he looked at me and said you have to get a full frame... Or something along those lines.

Guess what? I shelved my camera again... I needed a full frame, I wasn't a real photographer unless I shot full frame. I sold everything I had the next day, my tripod, my 60D and my 18-35. Ironically I also got paid that week so I took all my earnings, my check and purchased a Canon 6D.

I kept the Canon 6D for a while, with it I purchased a Rokinon 35 and 85, both lenses having fast apertures at f/1,4. I'll never forget the first image I took with this setup, it was a group of people in Campus Martius (Downtown Detroit) at around 6PM at f/1.4. A GROUP OF PEOPLE, AT F/1.4.

I'm not writing this to say that these were all bad purchases by any measure, but to say that the problem was never my gear. By not having a certain level of gear I made myself wait to even learn how to use my camera. I went through a T3i, a T4i and a 60D before I even started to shoot. I was shooting JPEGS on a 6D for at least 3 months before I realized what a RAW photo was. I purchased fast aperture lenses before I knew what they did, I shot everything wide open because I thought that was the point. People's eyes were out of focus, I was blurring out details of a photo that a fashion brand needed because I had no idea how to shoot. I didn't know that shuttered speed affected my shot. I just knew how to press the shutter, and press the shutter was all I did. I could have gotten those same pictures with just about any lens.

I noticed that this was happening to me with my idea of doing YouTube too. I told myself I needed a GH4, a Rode VideoMic Pro, a lavalier system, preferably from Sennheiser and a secondary camera for multiple viewpoints. I talked about vlogging for a year, a YEAR! And it never happened. It wasn't until last week that I told myself "just do it", cliche but just do it. Learn the craft first Keenan, be consistent first Keenan, gain a following, then upgrade if needed. I don't know what I need because I haven't even tried it yet. Do it for a day, if the audio sucks, buy a mic Keenan. If the quality sucks, buy a new camera Keenan, but first, at least attempt it to see if those things are even necessary. I started my vlog with my iPhone 6s +, an Olloclip, a Rode VideoMic Me and a Joby Gorillapod that I already had. No it's not the most professional setup, but it's all I need to put my thoughts into the world.