Retired, and in school???

After relaxing and enjoying life for a few months I signed up for a "Introduction to Digital Photography" class at Solano Community College in Fairfield. Does this feel feel weird?? Me, going to a school and registering for classes and buying books and supplies. I am 67 years old, retired after working almost 50 years, used to being on call at all hours of the day and night, and working long hours and weekends and holidays and I'm going back to school. I look at these young kids that are young enough to be my grandkids and here I am, a silver haired guy carrying his books to class just like them.

I get in to class, find a desk with a computer to sit at, and wait for the teacher's instructions. The teacher is a young gal, younger than my youngest daughter, but has a great background in commercial photography. She discussed how the classes would be held in both the classroom and in the field and what is expected from the students in the class, there are about 30 of us. The class meets once a week for 4 hours and holds a value of 3 units. Then she hands out some class papers and some guides and give us the homework assignment!! Wait a minute. I just wanted to get to know a little about taking pictures and maybe how to use PhotoShop CS4.

Well, I read the assignments and the required reading in the study books and low and behold I am learning how to take better photos and learn what my camera can do and what I can do with my camera. It is a lot of fun and interesting too. I used to just take pictures at birthday parties and get togethers and special occasions or maybe while on vaction. Now I take photos and try different things from different angles and try different effects with the camera. It is intersting and I am so glad I am using a digital as I can get instant feedback and look at the photo and can make corrections right now. Also, I take a lot more photos since I can, I take anywhere from 200 to 450 pictures at a time. Then when I get home I can upload the photos on to my computer and review them and save the good ones. Now I look for excuses to go somewhere and take pictures.

I have always wanted to see a balloon race and then I noticed that the Reno balloon races were the next weekend. I called my gal friend and asked her if she wanted to go for a ride to Reno to see the balloons and she said sure so we took off at about 11pm. We got up there and found a good spot to watch the festivities. At about 3 o'clock in the morning we were all set up with our cameras, tripods, chairs, blankets and coffee. Bring on the balloons! At about 4am they started filling the balloons and getting things ready and at 4:30 am I started taking pictures, that is about 2 1/2 hours before sunrise. I took about 400 photos until about 8:30 in the morning. By that time we were both pooping out and the balloon races were about over. We got something to eat and some coffee and headed home to Vacaville.

As we were going through Sacramento Suzanne asked me if I felt like doing some costume shopping in Old Sac, and I said sure. We stopped in Old Sac at about noon, and picked up our Halloween costumes and headed home. Needless to say we were pooped now and so we took a nap before dinner. I got some great photos, a couple prize winners actually, and we had a blast. It is great being retired and having the time to do things at a moments notice. There are alot of reasons why it is good to be retired. Life is good

ENJOY