JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

When we first bought our digital camera, almost five years ago, I thought of it as “Ted’s”. I had the simple film camera, which still seemed more practical to me, since we didn’t have a proper printer, and he had the Canon Powershot whose images could live only on the computer. I didn’t use the digital camera and I would carry a camera out of the house only for special occasions such as a holiday or birthday celebration. The rest of the time cameras sat on our desks.

Posting pictures changed my view of photography. As I learned to blog, I learned how to use the digital camera. Soon I was taking the camera with me whenever I left the house. I wanted it with me. My blog gave me a way to share what the girls and I saw and turned me into a photographer, carrying a camera everywhere.

However, our digital camera didn’t fit my lifestyle. With its size of 4 inches by 2 inches, I could barely fit it in my small purse or coat pocket. It was awkward and bulky. As a mom of three, I want the camera easily accessible when I need it, but also attached to me so I don’t have to worry whether I have lost it or left it.

Due to my negligence and distraction, the camera took a few hard falls. Tuesday my arms were tired from carrying kids and my purse suffered. Now the dented camera doesn’t display and I fear I won’t be able to remove the disk. Without the display, I’m not able to alter some of the settings.

It still records images, but with some difficulties. For example, I thought I would try to examine a bird in a nearby bush. The purple sky though indicated something was wrong with the camera.

Tuesday night I made certain Ted enjoyed a tasty dinner and some wine before I gave him the news. I’m joking; it was only coincidental that I served him a meal he liked on the same day I broke the camera. We have each had the “Honey I crashed the car” phone call with each other: in comparison to an auto accident, a broken camera isn’t a big deal. Ted and I had been planning to buy another camera anyway but at the moment the one we think we want isn’t yet available.

For now I won’t be able to record many images. I do have plenty in the archives that I can use – the camera did last for nearly 11,000 pictures. This time is also a good exercise for me to take a break. Sometimes I get so caught up in catching the moment that I miss it. Now I’ll store images and memories in my mind. Perhaps I’ll be more focussed on my family when I’m not focussing on other objects.