Smile please

When Eldest, (bless him for his thoughtfulness and imagination) insisted that I ought to have a digital camera of my very own, I didn’t realise  that it would take over my life in quite the way it has.  Not having been born the day before I got one, I didn’t actually believe that it would be completely simple or that it would require no technical learning at all but I suppose I didn’t really think it would lead (as the sparks fly upwards) to the acquisition of up to six more cameras* within the following ten years.

Well I’ve learnt some rules over these camera owning years.

1.  Any camera can take a stunning photo if the person behind it can take a stunning photo.

2. More expensive cameras don’t take better photos unless  the person behind them is better too.

3. Better cameras only take better photos if the person behind them is etc etc.

4. You can take just as good photos with digital as you can with film if you know how.

6. You can take just as good photos with film as you can with digital if you know how**.

7.  Heavy processing with Photoshop doesn’t affect the quality of the photo, though it can be used to hide some of the things you don’t want people to know you did wrong.  And dust spots.  And blurred crows.  And empty cans and crisp packets.  Not to mention orange bins, big white notices, bits of car, even whole cars if they’re a long way off, dead bodies …..***

8.  Whichever camera/lens/film you’re interested in, you can find some stunning photos on Flickr taken with exactly that camera/lens/film.

9. A photo of a stunningly beautiful subject can be just as crappy as a photo of  a really ugly pile of crap.

10. If you look up ‘piles of crap’ on Flickr you can probably find some stunning photos.****

Isn’t it amazing how many ways there are to delude yourself into thinking  you need some more equipment.

Anyway, since obviously, there’s no point in getting any more equipment till the next time I suddenly yearn for some new lens or other prop, I’ve decided to change my blog template.  This may take some time and who knows?  The blog may well vanish into the æther altogether and then I’ll have to get to grips with starting a new one. Or maybe I won’t have to but I probably will anyway and even any more way, most likely it won’t vanish at all but will reappear all new and shiny and minus all sorts of things I won’t be able to find again.

Oh, the dinner’s ready – I’d better go.

(There’s an error in here somewhere, I saw it just now but I can’t find it.  Later maybe)

*I did manage to pass on two of them  to other people.

** I will have to take this on trust as I haven’t yet quite got the film part to work.

***No, I haven’t.  Actually, on a long ago canal holiday, one sunny afternoon as we cruised along, sunbathing and playing guitars on the roof and eating cake, a dark-looking boat came the other way with a big black bag on the roof.  Yes, it was a dead body but I didn’t take any photos.

****No I haven’t looked.  It would be too depressing if I was right.  On many levels.

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