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I will also add the Thumbtack widget in the sidebar.
I was so ecstatic. I finally landed my first job at 17 years old, at a movie theater — a movie theater! I was so excited to work somewhere I really wanted to work. I knew it would be a while before I would get a hang of everything. Learning where all the concession items are, how to prepare them, etc., but I was so ready to finally become more responsible for myself. I was 17 with no paid work experience, no car, and no money. I finally landed an incredible job and I was proud of myself for taking the next step to becoming independent and responsible.
There were downsides to the job, of course. The movie theater itself wasn’t in the best condition. It’s an old building near the very old and run-down town mall. It was placed in the heart of the elderly population, so the movie theater reputation was basically known for attracting the older crowd. But that wasn’t reality. We got good business from people of all ages. Young families, young couples, old couples, you name it. It was just as good as any movie theater with good prices, just probably not the best accommodations.
Nonetheless, a job is a job and I would take what I could get at the time. I knew getting the job there would mean a bit of teasing from my friends because they didn’t feel as though I was getting a secure job, mainly because nobody knew how long the movie theater would last. However, my heart was set on taking the job after a long and struggling years of job hunting.
That was only 3 1/2 weeks ago. Today, I got the horrible call from the manager letting me know they were going to let me go. There were quite a few signs to where I felt this was coming very shortly. It was only a matter of time of when it was going to happen. I didn’t get put on the schedule sent out for the week. I noticed there were a few other employees in the same boat as I was. I didn’t look much into the situation as my availability was pretty limited to begin with, so they were only scheduling me when they could, if at all. I understood that completely.
Anyways, I don’t think I still fully understand why it was that they decided to let me go. I can be a quick learner through repetition, but I must not have learned quick enough. I felt as though I was progressing in the job nicely; going slow but steady, but at a good pace, providing a friendly & welcoming face to everyone, and of course getting the job done.
Working the concessions got me the most because it is the most fast-paced position there. You have to understand that I probably didn’t work more than 30 hours total since I got hired. My hours were all over the place and mainly just one day a week, probably 3 or 6 hours. This did not give me the time I needed to get used to the environment, find my pace on what to do or how to do it, or transition into the job properly. For this reason, I surely do not hope that I was let go because I was “too slow” or “not fast enough” at my position because I was still new. That’s what employers expect in new employees — to be slow at first and after a while get a hang of the job.
I was let down easy, and I was assured I was not the only one losing their job, as if that should have been of any comfort. They let me know I was not at the right job and how they’re working on some cut backs. I like to believe that they let me go due to the fact that they simply just could not afford me and took on more staff than they thought they could handle. While I do not know the specific reason I lost the job I can only be appreciative for the time I had there and befriending a great guy I now call my best friend. I will take from this experience as the knowledge of understanding that working there was just not fit for me. As much as I loved it, and as much as it injured me (blisters from mopping & sweeping, burns from the popcorn machine), I enjoyed every moment of it.
This day has opened me up to looking for new and exciting opportunities I have been meaning to take on for a while. I will now have the time to focus on photography that I have set aside for a while now, so I am looking forward to getting back behind the lens again. I am also looking into contacting some interior designers and asking about any possible opportunities to shadow a designer or internship for a few days. I am definitely keeping my options open in possible career paths. So, if anyone is in a similar situation as I was today, I really hope you do not see getting laid off, or fired, as a negative, just know that when one door closes, a million more open. You just have to find the one that will lead you to where you need to go.
Stay positive,
Lexi*
You have no idea how much I love this season. The spring may mean almost nothing to most people but when I think of spring? SPRING. TRAINING. Just around the corner from baseball’s regular season – and it’s extremely exciting.
Anyways, can you believe I’ve never been to a spring training game? I know, crazy. But! I can’t say that anymore! I was finally able to come around to a spring training game, and what better than my favorite team (Rays) ever and my third favorite team (Tigers) just about an hour away from me? Can’t turn that down! So my family and I made a trip to Lakeland, Florida to Joker Marchant Stadium – the Florida home of the Detroit Tigers’ spring training. It was the last Friday of my Spring Break (March 28th, 2014) and only 3 days until Opening Day!(!!!!!!!!!) I have been dying to finally get some sports shots with my new lens (which is why I wanted it so quickly) to be able to use at the game. This was really my last good chance I had to get good close shots of my favorite MLB players before the regular season started (because who knew when I’d get decent enough seats to get great pictures?). So ultimately, it was a win-win.
So here we go! It was a pretty awesome-packed afternoon. I met the one and only, Joe Nathan, got his autograph and a picture with him; saw my favorite player of all time, Matt Joyce; and my close-second favorite player of all time, Wil Myers. So yes, I had an incredible day. And now the pictures!!! I am very pleased with all of these, a few could have turned out better, but I was fangirling too hard to even focus.
Feel free to click on the pictures to get the full wonderful beauty of these marvelous ball players!
First up, Mr. Joe Nathan! It was pretty amazing to get awesome close-up shots of a 6x All-Star. Jackpot!!!
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 100
Focal length: 155 mm
Aperture: f/5
Exposure time: 1/250 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 320
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
I had gotten the Batting Practice tickets to get in early and see the Tigers practice, which worked out great because I got some pretty cool shots of Rajai Davis playing in the left outfield.
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 320
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 200
Focal length: 240 mm
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure time: 1/400 sec
And the babe Wil! ❤ I was pretty disappointed he didn’t come closer, none of the players really did. I was more towards the left outfield foul line right on the gate and all the players were mostly down by the third baseline (boo!).
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 320
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 320
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
And then MATT JOYCE ( ❤ ❤ ❤ ) came out and was chatting with Wil and oh my gosh, both of them in one picture, that I took?! I cannot contain myself.
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 400
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
I really enjoy this picture of some of the boys lined up together. I’ve always been a sucker for angle-shots-of-lined-up-baseball-players. 😉
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 160
Focal length: 220 mm
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure time: 1/400 sec
I really enjoyed being on the left field foul side so much. Matt played left field that day up until the sixth inning, so about through the second inning I was able to get great shots of him before I went up to my seat. It was very exciting when he turned towards the camera – my dream shot! If only he was a few feet closer so I could have gotten an even closer shot! After these photos, I tried calling him over towards me to get a quick picture or an autograph, but I don’t remember what he shouted back to me, which is unfortunate. 😦 But I know it was somewhere along the lines of “I can’t right now” or something like that because he didn’t end up getting the chance to come over (I don’t think they’re allowed to between innings anyways.) Okay, enough rambling! Here’s my favorite pictures of Matt!!
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 400
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 400
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 400
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
My other favorite Matt was on the mound – Matt Moore! 🙂
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 320
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
And what’s a baseball game without getting shots of the crowd or a baseball?! I love how these ones turned out!
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 320
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 200
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
Well, those are the ones I felt the need to share! I took over 500 photos that day (200 of Matt Joyce), and I would share them all, but I had to narrow them down some how. I had a great time finally getting sports shots. I will definitely go to more baseball games and get more pictures. I didn’t take my camera to Opening Day because my seats were in the outfield, so not necessarily the ideal location to get good shots.
Be sure to expect more posts about baseball – I am so competitive about baseball and NOT afraid to speak my mind about a situation. I hope you like what I had to share and I look forward to sharing more with you!
Stay awesome and Let’s Go Rays!!!!
Lexi*
So I was beyond excited when I was FINALLY able to get a new camera lens! After having the Canon 18-55mm lens for over a year and a half, it was time to upgrade. I started out with the 18-55mm which is fantastic to start out with, so when I got more interested in pursuing photography, my family bought me the 75-300mm lens and let me tell you it was worth it! I really wanted the lens quick as Spring Break was just coming around the corner so I would have a lot of time to play with it.
I got the lens off of Amazon.com through the bulk packaging option. Ultimately, the lens was about $40 cheaper buying it that way which was perfect – I didn’t want to pay the extra $40 to get the unnecessary manufactured packaging. The lens arrived on time in two days (free two day shipping!) and as soon as I got it Friday afternoon, I couldn’t put it down! I immediately started taking pictures. I was so amazed at how huge of an upgrade this lens was! The 18-55mm lens never really got me anywhere as far as far-distance pictures goes, and now that I have this, it will be a breeze!
Anyways, enough babbling! Here are a few of my favorite pictures I took of my Boston Terrier, Muffin, on Friday and Saturday. She’s such a cutie! Feel free to click on the images to see a larger version.
I love when she puts one of her legs up – it shows how bubbly her personality is!
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 800
Focal length: 300 mm
Aperture: f/8
Exposure time: 1/500 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 400
Focal length: 100 mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure time: 1/125 sec
By far my favorite shot!
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 1000
Focal length: 140 mm
Aperture: f/5
Exposure time: 1/250 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 2500
Focal length: 240 mm
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure time: 1/320 sec
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t2i
Lens: Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
ISO: 640
Focal length: 130 mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure time: 1/200 sec
When I had my 18-55mm lens, it was so hard for me to get a good picture of Muffin without her shying away from the camera or turning away too quickly. She didn’t like how I would have a giant box-looking-thing right in front of her face! But now that I have this new lens, it’s so much easier for me to take amazing quality pictures of Muffin from far away, but have it look like I was right in front of her!
Now I will share some of my pros and cons with the lens!
Pros:
Cons:
Well that’s about it for my thoughts/review on the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM lens. I will definitely be sharing much more of my shots with this lens. I cannot wait to see what else I can get out of this!
Let me know what you think about the lens if you have it, or if you’re still trying to decide if it’s worth it or not! I would also love to know what you think about these few test shots.
Until next time,
Lexi*
I am so proud of these! I really wanted something that would represent who I am, as well as a bit of uniqueness, instead of something cliche or unoriginal. I think I did really well with these ones. I made alternative watermarks for various reasons, or maybe I just couldn’t decide on which I liked better. These also are some watermark examples on what I have to offer for design services.
But anyways, I now present you the Lexi Nicole Photography watermarks! I did put a grey background on the white watermarks so obviously, it’s easier to see!
The one I will most likely be using on most of my photos is the white text one as it’s simple and neat. I would like to use the others (as I’m sure I will), just not as much!
I cannot wait to start using these and getting one step closer to a photography business. 🙂
Stay awesome,
Lexi*
Misadventures of Lexi 