Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A new camera.. and a heavy dose of cowardice

It is a rare food blogger who doesn't develop a passion for photography. Nothing can make your reader drool over the food you're talking about like a good photograph. No, really, not even the best written description - a picture, a thousand words.. remember that?

So, like every other food blogger on this planet I too started to try to take nice pictures. If you were to look at the older pictures on my blog and the more recent ones you will admit that the newer ones ARE better. Practice makes everything perfect, or at least gets you closer to perfection. I'm no different and I gradually took better photographs. I must say technology also improved, phones came with better cameras, I learned how easy it was to transfer pictures and also gained a better sense of aesthetics as I took picture after picture.

My brother game me my first digital camera. Not quite a DSLR but what the hubby tells me, is a 'bridge' camera.. something between the new and the old. A Fuji Finepix S5600. The first time I really used this camera was on a holiday in Goa. That's when I first felt the stirrings of a new passion - photography.

I started blogging more seriously over the last couple of years. I also started interacting with other bloggers and as blogger meets became the rage, I even met many bloggers and today some of them are my best friends :) With the increase blogging came the need to take more and better pictures.

As my interest in photography grew the hubby and many friends started suggesting I get myself a better, more up to date camera. These days we are freer with our spending and I, like most opthers, have my share of impulsively bought expensive things that lie quite unused. This time I decided to wait till I felt I really deserved a new one. I wanted to be sure this was not a passing fancy.

I started an album on Facebook and bored my friends with my photographs :) They were all so encouraging I started believing in myself even more.


The hubby was always encouraging and let me bug him with my endless questions. Eventually we decided I needed to attend a proper class that would teach the very basics and then more.

Armed with my faithful Finepix I went for a Beginners' Photography Workshop. I came back enlightened. Suddenly, taking photographs was less of a lottery and more of an informed process. Some really lovely pictures emerged and my confidence and fascination grew.



A little more than a  month ago I suddenly felt ready for a new camera. A proper grown up camera. A DSLR. The hubby celebrated quietly and conferred with a friend who's a professional photographer and a suitable camera was selected.

The Canon versus Nikon arguments went on from all directions but since both the guys are Nikon fanatics, I got a Nikon. A Nikon D3200. OMG!

The funny thing is I'm scared of it. It's complicated, feels alien and intimidating. My beloved Finepix is like a familiar friend. It feels right. We know each other so well. I feel like I'm betraying her...

So the Nikon sits untouched while I make excuses and continue with my BFF, my Finepix.

I will use the Nikon. Just not yet. I need a little more time.


Day 4 Marathon Bloggers


10 comments:

Finla said...

Enjoy your new toy and welcome to the photography passion, i am like you started only taking a intrest in photography after getting a camera ( like you gifted by hubby) i think the best thing is that your hubby support your passion. And that is what I call encouragment.

Rhea Mitra Dalal said...

:)

Simran said...

Do on pick that nice and shiny Nikon, I swear you are going to love it so much that once you start using it and see the results you will never go back to the Finepix (sad i know, but totally worth it). I am so in love with my Canon DSLR that now I don't mind lugging that mother load of a camera wherever I go. The hubby takes the kid and I take care of the camera :) Happy clicking and waiting to see pictures from the untouched one!!

Simran said...

*Go on...

Me! In words said...

I totally get how wonderful it feels to take a good looking photo. My DSLR is like my little baby and comes with me on all our restaurant jaunts. Go on... go crazy with it.. its a great feeling

AJ said...

Like everyone else I too would love to see the shots from your DSLR..pick it up, point and shoot! Love, Aparna

Swati Raman Garg said...

me too wants a camera... sends this link to the husband :D

Unknown said...

I struggle to click decent pics for my food blog :( However I console myself by saying I dont need to be good at everything. At the back of my mind, pati and I know that it is imperative that one of us picks the passion and take it forward.
it was a lovely read :)

Anagha said...

Till I acquire a new, technically advanced camera, your post assures me that I should not stop posting or writing for the want of a new camera. The old one can surely fill in the gap.Many thnx for posting this piece!

k10 said...

Well Done Kurush! And all the best Rhea!