That is the question.

A camera! a camera! my kingdom for a camera!

With a nod to Shakespeare, Hamlet and King Richard III.

Wow!  That makes it sound like I read Shakespeare, doesn’t it?  Well, they may have forced me to read Hamlet in college…  Or maybe I just saw Mel Gibson one time, I don’t recall.

But that is how I feel sometimes.  I want to shoot pictures, but I never seem to have my camera when I see something shoot-worthy.  And when I do have my camera, it’s annoying trying to keep up with because it’s like a big rock.  A rock with a strap…and a case, which actually makes it easier to carry than just a rock.  But you get the idea.  I think my friend Chris (@pbchris62) has the right idea.  He goes driving purposely to take pics.  That way he’s sure to have his camera when he sees something to shoot.  He must close his eyes the rest of the time.

Yellowstone Prong - Graveyard Fields NC

Yellowstone Prong - Graveyard Fields NC

I guess my love of shooting things goes back to my teen years.  I wanted to produce a slide show of the creation story, complete with self-performed music and narration. I was shooting real slides.  I used Kodachrome for you old school photographers out there (that name would make a great song wouldn’t it.)  Hey, it was before Photoshop, PowerPoint, digital photography – even dirt, if you ask my kids.  I never actually finished it (I seem to have to say that way too much), but I did shoot a LOT of landscape shots with an eye for keeping man-made objects out of the frame.  Of course, living in the mountains of Western North Carolina made it pretty easy.

Back in the day, I had this awesome Minolta SLR with a bunch of lenses and accessories.  I would shoot just about anything.  But not weddings.  I wouldn’t shoot weddings, because my shutter was so loud it sounded like I slammed a vault door shut.  You know, one of those movie vault doors that are really deep and loud and continue reverberating for what seems to be hours? Just imagine the silence of the wedding vows pierced by KA-CHOONK-choonk-choonk-choonk (how’s that for onomatopoeia?  How’s that for sounding well-educated?)  Everyone turns and stares at me as I try to disappear (anyone who has seen me, knows that I am unlikely to disappear.)  “Oh, I’m sorry, I just threw my camera through the wall.”  It didn’t end well.  That was my last wedding attempt.

Saluda River - Possum Kingdom SC

Saluda River - Possum Kingdom SC

I primarily shot candids (they weren’t candid after the first shot), landscapes and nature.  I tried shooting wildlife, but that daggum Minolta gave me away every time.  But it had awesome lenses and I loved it so when it was time to buy a digital, I looked for a Minolta.  In retrospect, I prefer Nikon, but since photography was only one of my several  hobbies, I couldn’t justify the additional expense.  I ended up with the Minolta DiMage 5 that I’ve had for years now.  I like it, but, since I decided not to rant in this blog, I won’t to go on and on about the focus issue and the cost of getting it checked out (and not necessarily repaired.)

But anyway, I still shoot candids (ask some of the folks that I’ve surprised over the years), but I prefer landscapes.   The shot of Looking Glass Rock at the top of this page is a portion of a panoramic that I shot a couple years ago.  The Saluda River to the right was a cold January morning with fog hanging over the river.  One of those times when I saw a great shot and actually had my camera with me.  And the shot of Yellowstone Prong, was a backpacking trip that I actually carried the DiMage along (a lot less trouble than my old Minolta.)  Someone once said  “I’m not responsible for the beauty, only the recording of it.”

Well, I don’t shoot as much anymore because of the aforementioned focus issue (very annoying), so if any of my readers wants to give me a Nikon D90, that would be OK. :)   I still carry around a small Fujitsu point and shoot, but it’s just not the same.

So, the coffee maker just made the gurgling sound that I love so much so I’m outta here!

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