When I was in my 20's I bought a Nikon F SLR, which was, in those days, the cool camera to have. With a 50mm Nikor lens it cost me about $500 in 1966, which is just about $4,000 in today's dollars. Holy crap! Did I spend that much for a camera?
I guess so. I loved that camera even though I didn't take all that many pictures with it. How could I? I had no money left for film.
And I learned something that I forgot until now: having a camera changes the way I look at the world.
I think the world is a pretty cool place. I see things that are interesting and beautiful all the time. But back when I had my first Nikon it was different, and now it's different again, in that same way.
Having a great camera puts me on high alert looking for amazing images and potential works of art. And it moves me out of the comfortable patterns of my life, looking for more amazing images.
Like the picture at the top of the post. To capture it I had to leave my comfy house and walk out in to the freezing Maine winter. The snow had a crust of ice over it, making each step a small challenge for my 73 year-old arthritic knees.
Balance is easy when you're young, harder at my age. Muscles are stronger. Proprioreceptors more sensitive. There's the ever present danger of slipping and falling, and the realization that that fear will drive me into earlier immobility if I don't face it and best it.
So instead of sleep-walking through the evening in my comfy warm house I had to WAKE UP and get my boots on and brave the cold and the slippery landscape.
That's what having the camera in my hand does. It shouts WAKE UP!!!!
It yells NOTICE THINGS!!!!
When the camera's not nearby, its voice is not so insistent, but it's still there.
And really, why do I need the camera? I've got lenses in both my eyes.
I'm a camera.
And I'm on the prowl for pictures.
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