New toys

When I started to be overtaken my faster cars, I bought, a better car. When my computer started to get that bit slower, I bought a better, faster, laptop. When I got overtaken by a seventy year old wrinkled man walking up a mountain in Vancouver, I bought some better shoes. So, when people around me start taking amazing photographs, I go and buy a stupidly expensive camera. I’ve stated to realise that my philosophy in life is simple. If you can’t beat them, get stuff that will.

Okay, it’s not about the equipment, they say, it’s how you use it. Apparently. Well, I’m learning. Or trying to learn. They also say you can’t polish a turd. I’m more inclined to agree with the later. After one day with my new digital SLR camera, I’m realising that I shouldn’t be relying on the ‘Auto’ switch, after all, what’s the point in being able to change a thousand settings and then not?

Buying a camera from a camera shop is like buying a computer from a computer shop. You will be greeted by slightly spotty, adolescent who starts to sweat as soon as you mention ‘lenses’ or ‘memory card’. You can tell they have landed their dream job, like Big Mac addict working in McDonalds or a pop corn cruncher in Blockbuster.

Then there is that novelty factor. Just like buying a faster car, there will always be one that's faster, it’s just they are more willing to prove it now. Learn by your mistakes. Of course not. Someone said to me “it’s all about knowing the right picture, not how good your camera is”. Well, maybe you are right. When I try and take a picture of a chair, it, looks like, a chair. When someone else takes a picture of the same chair, it’s good enough to frame (that’s exactly what I did). But I still went out and bought that better camera. Maybe my new camera will make that chair look like painting. I doubt it.

Walking around with a better, more professional looking camera is like driving around in a Ferrari. People look at you as if you know what you are doing. They look for your shot. They want to know what they are missing. But if you can’t reverse park in a Ferrari, it tends to make you look ten times worse. Of course I would be happy to sit in a Ferrari let alone try and reverse park it, but that’s another point.