I'm slowly getting dragged into professional photography. I do the photography for Chair & Trellis, the store I co-own. Because these photos are reproduced in newspapers and magazines, it's much more technically demanding than my hobby photography.

With hobby photography, I take pictures of what I want when I want. It's nice if I get a few good shots, but there are no problems if things don't work out.

Professional photgraphy is different. I have to reliably take many good pictures of subjects I don't always care about even if I don't feel like taking pictures. Then there are the logistics of photgraphy inside the store which isn't always the best place to take photos. The lighting and layout are for shopping. When you take pictures at the store there are often distractions in the back ground, the shots are too busy, the lighting and the colors are off or ugly price tags are visible. Plus I can only do it when it's quiet and there no customers around.

Frequently, Mark will compose a display and tell me to what angles he'd like it photographed from. Then I'll say I can't get that angle because the camera has to be too close, or too far. Or the lighting is too contrasty.

It's frustrating that the store looks so beautiful yet it's hard to communicate that beauty in the photographs.

Now I'm considering buying a thousand dollar lens and thousand dollar software. Professional quality lenses and software would give me much more flexibility in taking the shots I need and since we are spending thousands of dollars on ads they may be the right tools for the job. On the other hand it's a lot of money. I will feel ill the first time I accidentally bump a two thousand dollar camera and lens against the wall.