My mom likes to have photos of people, places and events, but she doesn’t really like to take photos. She has just never learned much over the years about any of the cameras she and Dad owned, so she isn’t comfortable with one in her hand.
And once her film camera started acting up a few years ago, she insisted that she would not replace it with a digital camera. No way. She wouldn’t even consider it. “But Mom, digital cameras are great, and that’s just about all you can find these days.” It didn’t matter what Phil and I said, Mom wasn’t budging.
Until 2011, when she had a trip all planned to Germany, and her old-timey film camera shuddered…and shuttered no more. Then she asked for help in picking out a new camera, and guess what she came home with. You guessed right, I’m sure. She had stepped into the digital age.
Phil and I took a great deal of time to teach her how to use it and take her on outings for practice so that she would be assured of getting some nice shots on her European adventure. And we coached her about taking lots of photos because she and Dad had always taken just a few shots of most occasions because of the price of film and developing. She was nervous about all of it, but she packed up her Canon in its spiffy new case (making sure to take lots of extra batteries) and headed to Deutschland.
Now, being fair to her, she did bring home a number of nice photos from that trip. It really was an all-around good first effort for a new digital photographer. But I think you’ll understand why it’s this shot that is my absolute favorite.
Product/technique notes:
I was inspired by this great PageMaps sketch and used patterned paper from the My Mind’s Eye “My Favorite Things” 6×6 pad. The camera die cut is from American Crafts/Amy Tangerine.
Leave a Reply