Believe it or not, this ain't a post about pregnancy. Instead, this is a post about the newest addition to our little family, weighing in at around a pound and costing my husband (the most wonderful, incredible man in the world who loved me enough to give it to me for my 2007 gift) around Php31k: the new Nikon Dx40 SLR camera!
I've always been interested in photography. Which is ironic, because 1 - I myself, don't photograph well (it takes a certain alignment of stars or a total eclipse to ensure I get a good shot) and 2 - I have awful eyesight (which is getting worse recently, but of course, I refuse to take any reasonable action such as getting eyeglasses - heaven forbid! - for it). As a child, I've found it fascinating to see those "art" shots that show images of mundane things made more marvelous by trick of shadow and light.
I've always thought that once I was old enough to own my own SLR camera, I would take pictures of the same mundane things that had fascinated me in my youth (in particular, and not a lot of people know this, I have a rather morbid fascination with trees - wet trees, dark trees, trees with complicated branches that sink so low to the ground before thrusting upwards - almost as if it were redeemed - to the sky). Lo and behold, my interest took a slightly different route when I saw a documentary of this Korean female monk where they showed still images of her just thinking, or walking or simply staring straight in the camera that somehow gave the viewers an insight to her thoughts, to her personality, a glimpse of her charisma.
I never knew a human face - and I mean a normal human face, not the overly made up supermodel types - could be so interesting. And so I decided that what I wanted most for 2007 (aside from the child of course) was an SLR camera. Dean of course was there to caution me about how photography could take years to master just so you can take a simply face shot and make it marvelous, but though my mind agreed with him wholeheartedly, my heart just wanted to take pictures and believe that somehow - formal training be damned - I can someday come close to those still images of the Korean female monk in that documentary.
The wonderful thing about my marriage is that my husband also shares my interest in photography, although with slight differences. He, I believe, is more interested in the technicalities of getting a great shot - changing colors, adding blue or red pigments to the picture, making sure the composition is right, cropping and cleaning out images - whereas I just want to capture the moment on digital film.
Between you, me and the rest of the world, I think he has a better chance of becoming a great photographer, as he's actually interested in learning how photography works, while I'm just waiting for a certain alignment of stars or a total eclipse to get my shot. Despite this, however, its great to know I have someone to share my interest in, someone to learn it with and most of all, someone to take pictures of when all other models and muses have given up with my long wait for brilliance.
Here's some of my practice shots with our new camera (of course, with my favorite person in the world):
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