Future Corpse

Cake, please.

09 August, 2006

New Toy (oh ee yo)


Ladies and Gentlemen, as the newest member of your 21st Century, I'd like to ask your indulgence in allowing me a moment to say a few words about a beloved old friend: My 35mm camera.

We shared some good times, my Minolta and I. I am forever indebted to it for it's sharp focus, it's operational simplicity, and it's endless hours of darkroom creativity.

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

Please know, Minolta SLR, that I resisted the call of the newfangled for as long as I could. I was, and still am, your champion. But I can no longer go on pretending that you fulfill my needs.

The truth is that my needs have changed. I have changed. And you haven't.

I've been seeing another camera.

*cue Sarah Mclaghlin's 'I Will Remember You'*

(here's where an evocative display of pictures I've taken through the years should go, but my scanner isn't working. And since I don't feel like hauling my carcass down to Kinkos to get prints scanned, I guess ceremony can go fuck itself.)

Here are the first fledgling captures of my new digital camera.

7:00 AM this morning. The creepy handiwork of multi-legged beings:




7:45 AM. Still life with quarter, ink pen, 5 pound barbell, & two dogs kvetching on a coffee cup:



The camera was a very generous gift. I'm tight-wad-inclined and probably wouldn't have bought myself one for another year or two.

I like it, except for one major complaint: I absolutely despise focusing through that monitor.

The intimacy between photographer and subject is lost in the digital age. With a manual, ie "real" camera, one eye is held tight against the view finder and the other is squinted closed, which shuts out everything in the whole world. The only thing that exists in that moment is what's in the lens.

Digital cameras are like mini-TVs. And every passer-by can stop and watch with you just by hovering over your shoulder. Such an invasion!

But...there is always a sacrifice for convenience, I guess.

And just think, in a few short years, we will meet young people who won't know what a "negative" is.

turn, turn, turn...

3 Comments:

  • At 11 August, 2006 03:37, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hey Miss Mickey

    I felt like you about digital cameras. I loved my little Canon Canonet GIII (check out tyhe cool black one at the bottom of the page - I have one of each type and used to keep the black one loaded with b&w film, the other with colour): http://www.cameraquest.com/canql17.htm

    But I finally succumbed to digital and although I still have my film cameras, I don't use them. Maybe in the future I'll do some of my own b&w processing, but not just now.

    However, my little digital (a three-year-old CP3700 Nikon point & shoot) has a viewfinder window, which I often use instead of the screen. And my lovely Nikon D70s SLR can only be used through the viewfinder - just like the old days.

    I like what I've seen of your blog, and loved the link the Geoffrey Chaucer Has A Blog. Thanks for your thoughts and for pointing me in interesting directions.

    Micky P (yes, of UK Nova)

     
  • At 13 August, 2006 06:19, Blogger Mickey said…

    Mr. Micky -

    I'm warming up to the digital quite nicely. Lots of neat little tricks and handy conveniences...I like very much.

    Would love to see some of your photographs if they are online.

    Thanks for dropping by and the nice words.

     
  • At 14 August, 2006 17:04, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Miss Mickey

    I'll post a few at some point soon and let you know. They're nothing special, mind. Off to France for a few days on Wednesday to see some friends, so I might not get round to it till after I get back next Tuesday.

    T'ra a bit!

    Mr Micky

     

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