Photography (a look back)

A few months ago I finally got serious in my quest to better understand my camera and photography in general. Turns out there is so much to learn. I have loved taking pictures my whole life. When I think back to my childhood I can picture (no pun intended)what was probably my first camera. It was a black camera with a chunky orange buton. There was nothing more exciting then getting pictures back from the developer (aka: the grocery store.)

Then came high school and I was so excited to take photography as a class. When I close my eyes I can still smell the solutions we used to develop our film, what a sour smell indeed! Sadly I didn't do so well in that class. The teacher was a jolly old soul and never cared one way or the other how foolish we acted in the dark room, he was certainly a laid back old guy. I loved the hands on nature of photography but when we had to buckle down and get into the book learning I am sure I was the first in class to drop my head to the table for a little after noon nap.

A few years later I bought my first digital camera. I paid a couple hundred bucks for this monstrous creation, and was so baffled by it that I soon sold it to some young guy with a little extra cash in his pocket. I guess at that time I didn't get the whole "digital" thing. I wanted to get my pictures developed and hold them in my hands. I don't even think I had a computer at that time, so I wouldn't have had a place to store them.

After selling that digital camera I went straight to the store and bought my first single lens reflex camera. It was a canon rebel and was not digital. I had more fun with that camera. I traveled all over Europe snapping pictures of unsuspecting people and a few boring old land marks along the way. As a side note: maybe I should think of becoming a paparizi...lol! Being able to manually focus my lens and be able to zoom in and out was such a liberating feeling, after using a basic (10 dollar) 35 mm camera my whole life. I held onto that camera for about eight years. I actually just sold her at a garage sale not that long ago. During the time of owning her I also have owned a handful of pocket size digital cameras.

A few months ago Pat got sick of hearing me complain about the inabilities of our little digital cameras and told me he would like to buy me a nice camera, and that he would research it for me. "Ahh, NO" I very politely said. I knew I wanted a canon. I knew I wanted something like my rebel but even better. After a bit of a search we decided on the Canon D40, Pat got on line and ordered me my digital SLR camera.

I have had such a blast documenting every little thing with this camera. If its in or near my house I have a picture of it. Pat is always laughing at me. Blah blah blah, long story. I started this post with the intention of telling what all I have been learning in my private photography sessions. I guess I needed to spew out the history before I delve into all this other info.