Death of a Camera

It is a sad, sad day at the end of the dirt road.

Sob.

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to my camera. It died.

No, I know it doesn't seem very important to you, but it's my blog and I feel the need to write about it.

Sob.

I loved this camera. And for those of you that know me, you know that I am not a materialistic person. THINGS simply do not mean much to me, although I will admit that I wouldn't turn down a dishwasher if it just happend to find it's way down my road.

However, my camera is my companion. It rarely leaves my side ~ just ask my kids or my DH.

5 years ago I was suddenly dragged into the digital age when my film camera took a dip into Madera Creek as I was taking the perfect photo of the kids playing in the rushing water. It was an old camera, but I was still sad to see it go. The repair shop said that parts would be hard to come by, if not impossible. It would cost more to repair than to purchase a new one. My mom sent me money to buy a new one for my birthday.

A new era was upon me.

After reading everything I could get my hands on and spending 4 hours hounding the very patient man at the camera shop, I was the proud owner of a new Olympus C-5050. It was one of the only 5-megapixel cameras on the market and it was mine. There was only one problem.

I was scared of it.

Go ahead and laugh, but the fact remains ~ an entire 3 months of my family's life is lost and unchronicled due to the fact that I was afraid of that camera.

That nice man who owned the camera store told me that it was a "thinking man's camera". Yikes.

I brought it home and there it sat. On the dresser. In it's pretty box.

Six weeks passed and the nice camera shop man called me. How did I like my new camera? I really liked George when I met him. Now I liked him even more. How sweet of him to call and check on the crazy lady.

Uh, George. I'm certain I'll like it very much....once I take it....out of the box.


He reassured me that I could handle it. Such confidence! Such assurance! Such belief!

I was still scared.

So what prompted me to release my newly acquired camera from its confined box? DD. She was about to pack up for her very 1st Horse Judging Competition and here I was without a camera.

I grabbed the box and ran out the door.

I have never looked back. The first picture I ever took with it was in the hotel room as DD's horse judging coach yelled, "Dogpile!" and everyone jumped onto the bed. Yes, it is sad that I remember that 1st photo so clearly, but that camera became my new best friend that day and my children will look back on the past 5 years with clarity and fondness because my camera and I were there to capture the moments.

Call me silly. Call me sick. Call me odd.

Once again, after 12,573 photos (no wonder I can't seem to get caught up on my scrapping!), my beloved C-5050 is no more and I find myself wading through a digital jungle that has grown exponentially since I first set foot in it.

Once again I am afraid.
I am afraid of spending that much money.
I am afraid of making the wrong choice.
I am afraid of having to learn a new camera all over again.

But mostly, I am afraid of not getting that next shot. So today is the day. The day I will make my selection.

Maybe.