I’ve always enjoyed good photography. The summer of my 15th birthday, my family took a cross country trip from Mississippi to Wyoming. And when we got to Denver, we looked in the phone book (no Google) for a reputable camera store. I remember being amazed that we found one. I got my very first “good” camera, an Olympus OM 10 SLR. That school year I started taking pictures for the yearbook and eventually became the yearbook editor for my senior year.
Once I moved on to college, then marriage, then babies, I left that part of me behind. Like the poet I once was, she hibernated for a long time. The poet emerged around 1995, but the photographer is still in hibernation. I got a “good” camera for Christmas 2015 before a big trip to Africa the summer of 2016: Sony 6000.
I took gorgeous pictures in Africa that summer, but everything else paled in comparison, so I put the camera away for the next big trip. I thought of taking it out in the spring to learn more about using it. It was on my list of possible pandemic projects. For whatever reason, and I think these things cannot truly be explained, I’ve finally taken the camera out again.
Da, da, tada! I present to you a gallery of amateur photographs. I admit I have a beautiful setting to photograph, so why not? Maybe I’ll keep it out this time.
Reflections on the Teche 
I am reminded of the “good bottle of perfume” – why wait, why not wear it every day, isn’t every day special in itself? And so it is with your really really “good camera.” Beautiful shots of a beautiful setting, indeed. I anticipate more now that the inner photographer is getting a good, long stretch after hibernation…
Fran, my grandmother told me that about the good bottle of perfume, too. 🙂
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing these! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Margaret, the nature photography you shot is an example of “nature inspired awe”, a new term I found while researching my slice. I captured your heron photo for my Abundant Autumn Gallery in case you say yes to posting it there. Perhaps, you should use one of these photos for This Photo Wants To Be A Poem.
Gorgeous selections for your online gallery, Margaret! Thank you for sharing them with us.
I miss using my Dad’s SLR. He used to bring it with him whenever he visited. Now he uses his iPhone exclusively.
Oh, Margaret, these are gorgeous! I am particularly drawn to the second one, Fall on Bayou Teche – with its soft bare branches in the foreground and then wispy, ‘mysterious’ background. Yay, you, for getting your photography passion out of hibernation!
Oh, Margaret! These are gorgeous! I especially love the heron. It’s beautifully composed and sharp and simply stunning! Your piece makes me wonder about what parts of myself I’ve left in hibernation, or maybe just undernourished…
I love that this part of you has come out of hibernation. The heron photo is stunning…that heron was waiting for the good camera and you. You give me writing ideas with the word hibernation. What a smart friend you are.
[…] « Slice of Life: The Good Camera […]
Your pictures are lovely. I really relate to the idea that various parts of you have come out of hibernation. My husband has recently remarked that I seem to have released some sort of creative side he didn’t really know existed. When you write about 15-year-old you finding that camera, my heart soars to know that she is coming out again. I can imagine her playful excitement as she sees this world anew – in fact, I see it in your photographs. Welcome back, little Margaret!