Posts in category: My Foto Captures – Mostly

How Old Is Too Old?

OK, just the facts sir!

I am 66 and three months as I write this and ask myself frequently am I too old? The reason I have felt better these last few months than the last few years is I have lost almost 50 pounds in the last 7 months. This was due to me feeling as bad as I have ever felt right after Christmas. My weight now puts me within 15-20 pounds of what my ideal weight should be for my scrawny height. I am not sure if I really want to drop another 20 but I do want to drop 10 more at least. I think anyone would feel better if they lost the weight of two 25 pound bags of dog food, one on each shoulder.

My general health I’d say is at 80%, and that doesn’t mean I want to run three quarters of a marathon, but I do want to feel as good as I can doing whatever I do from here until it becomes unobtainable. I think I am generally as healthy as I have been in decades. But I do have issues.

Please Tell Me Its Not So!

My joints are suffering mildly from arthritis. They really do give me a pain at times and my doctor suggested me start playing the guitar. I told her I been playing since I was 12 and she didn’t say much other than it would really help the joints in my fingers to play more often. I can do that!

Added to that is, I have short term memory problems that seem to be increasing as time clicks away. Frustrating, yes, but not causing me too much of a problem other than getting pissed off when I can’t remember something. This has been around a while now. Seems to be getting worse but not to a level of causing me or others any problems other than frustration.

I have lost my senses of smell and taste probably on the average of 75-80%. That bothers me to no end. I suppose losing weight was easy when I couldn’t taste the food. I am told, by physicians, it could be a medical problem combined with an age problem. Bottom line is, both conditions are; or, and this is important, could be tied to early symptoms Alzheimer’s. That fact doesn’t scare me one bit as, if it turns out to be that prognosis, I won’t know much about it anyways, right? These have been around and seem to be getting worse just in the last year or two.

But other than all that, I feel good generally. I’m lucky. I know others that are my age who are struggling lots more than me. So I am 66+ years old and I want to do certain things that most persons don’t wait to do until 66 comes around.

Ok, So What Do I Do Now?

I’ve always had a dream of being able to compose great images through photography. It has always been a back shelf hobby of mine until a few years ago when I purchased my first good DSLR camera. It was great to me back when I purchased it, but now it’s very much out of date and needs upgrading badly. That’s the first step of two I “want” to take.

The second is to enroll in a photography learning experience to take my basic skills to the next level. Many options are available online by some very reputable sources. I really feel I can still learn things and keep them in my heading the right places. I want to still be able to learn all I can until I can’t anymore. I want to capture images that, after I am gone, my grand-kids would be proud to show off; I already have a few of those on hand. Click on Kelsey’s night time portrait I took last fall!

And finally, I am not considering this to make any money at all. If I was to make a buck or two, that could be awesome. But the way I see it is, there are millions of great photographers out there doing what they love to do and that is the art of capturing a moment in time after that moment is gone forever. That’s a very powerful concept if you really think about it. Capturing memories of life to be kept for all times just with a click of the camera’s shutter. You steal a moment and a memory from being eternally lost forever. Also if I do have an increasing problem of memory loss, I can think of no better way to maybe perhaps map where my mind is or where it may be headed until I cant anymore.

Is It Obtainable or Even Worth It?

All I need now is to make the decision to go forward based on my age and not my health; again I feel great for the most part. Is 66 too old or too late to do this? Are my goals unreachable? Can I procure the funding I need? I am considering perhaps a Fund Me or a Kickstarter program possibly to help purchasing upgraded equipment; $1500-$2500 for new camera body and new glass, a big investment at my age. That’s on the very low end of what could be had these days. I just do not know what my answers are. And Is it worth not knowing if I could have, if I choose not to try? I feel like I can, and I know I want to. I just have to decide if I think taking this step is justifiable considering the age thing.

So I Ask Daily, How Old Is Too Old?