Entry #8: Just Some Thoughts

It's been about 9 months since my last entry. Not that anyone really reads these or cares in the first place, but I figured one was overdue. I've been really bored lately and have thought a lot about my plans for the future. Not really in terms of the path my life will take, but mainly with weather and chasing stuff.

I'm not trying to say I'm even close to being a big deal, but I think I've made a pretty good amount of headway when it comes to the start of my chasing career, if I can even call it that yet. I'm 16 and have seen 4 tornadoes within a 2 year period, even with restrictions I've faced, such as chasing almost completely locally and not having a license until this past July. I have a semi-decent collection of video, and have picked up a lot of knowledge and experience. The only thing I'm not satisfied with is the fact that I've had very little interaction with the community, outside of social media. I have made a decent number of friends (or should I call them acquaintances?) via social media, but again, that's only through the internet. The only real exception I can say is that I did plan a visit to College of DuPage's meteorology department back in late June (only a couple days after the tornadoes of June 20-22), meeting with and having some awesome weather and chasing talk with Paul Sieczka, and a bit with Victor Gensini too. I was a little disappointed that the head meteorology professor, Paul Sirvatka, couldn't be there, but I can definitely understand that he had other important obligations to tend to. It was awesome though to meet with people I had only talked with via Facebook and Twitter. I digress, however. I'd really like to be able to interact with and even tag along with other chasers. They always seem to have an incredible time, and it would be incredible to be a part of that.

Abruptly changing the topic, I've finally been able to get my hands on a new DSLR. I've wanted one for a year and a half, and finally had my opportunity to snatch one up among the Black Friday crowds. It wasn't the particular model I wanted, which was the Canon T3i, but the Canon T5 that I did end up purchasing is still an incredible camera, and came bundled with 2 kit lenses rather than one for $400. The 18-55 and 75-300 mm lenses that were included are great lenses (at least by my standards, I know that kit lenses are often labelled as "ameteur"), even with the 20 mm gap and the whole "having to constantly switch lenses if I want to zoom very far in" deal. Regardless, it's a MAJOR step up in video quality and still a big step up in photo quality for me. Although, as I said, I'm no bigshot, I've been thinking a bit about getting a contract with a broker like KDR Media. It'd be nice to have an outlet to turn to when the media comes running to ask for any content for free, and to be able to make a buck or two off of any video the media would want to buy. These are all just thoughts, though, and I may or may not take any action based on them. But if anyone who happens to be reading this has any helpful information on brokers like KDR Media, feel free to message me via Twitter.

And now that winter is here, boredom is sure to set in for extended periods. I actually love winter storms, but a) there's often a large gap between them, and b) I like severe weather more. It's going to be a long winter, but here's to hoping Spring 2016 will be great!