Fancy New Toy

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

--The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams

After many years as a self-proclaimed film snob, I swore I’d never go digital. I have always loved the smell of film, hoped someday I’d have a darkroom to play in, thought digital photography was making everyone lazy because “you can just delete what you don’t like.” But I finally caved. As of this weekend, I am the proud owner of a Nikon d80 and I cant wait to figure out how to use it.

I spent a good bit of yesterday neurotically reading the owner’s manual. I’m not usually one to read a manual page by page, but there are just too many buttons to “wing it.” So far, my favorite thing from the directions: “When operating the viewfinder diopter control with your eye to the viewfinder, care should be taken not to put your finger or fingernail in your eye accidentally.” Awesome advice.

I did feel a little pang of sadness packing away the body of my film camera. I’m sure I’ll still get it out from time to time, but it is definitely like the old toy that gets put away for a while in favor of the new one with all the bells and whistles. But that “old toy” traveled a lot of miles with me and took a lot of great shots… And as my first “real” camera, it has helped to develop (seriously, no pun intended) a hobby I hope to continue for many years.

Is it weird to get all poetic and sentimental about a camera??

Anyway, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite pictures taken over the last few years…