Perfectly Imperfect

I try to bring my camera with me wherever I go. It doesn't always happen, and even sometimes when the camera is with me, I forget about it or I'm not fast enough or it's out of batteries. That doesn't deter me, though, as I work to capture the memories for myself and my family.

I have to use my camera. My brain is broken, and I can't remember anything otherwise.

The wee ones don't always cooperate, however. They don't like having their pictures taken in a given moment or they want it too much and get goofy and the moment I was trying to capture is lost.

Looking through the images that I've captured on my "fancy" camera, as Little Miss calls it, I'm struck by the variety of images that I save. They aren't the perfect ones by dictionary definition, but they're the ones that capture the personalities of the wee ones. They're the ones that show their characters and imperfections - sticky fingers and all.

It's those photos and those moments that give me hope, that tel me - yes, I can use this medium as a way to capture a single moment in time that passes before I blink. I look again at some of the images that I would have discarded because they are so imperfect or because I missed the expression and emotion I was trying to capture. I look at the ones where I so obviously let the wee ones dress themselves, and I see possibility.

It's all about my perspective. We are all imperfect, and it's those moments that we do need to capture. When I change my perspective, it suddenly does become a perfect moment for me - for us.

And that's a lesson I need to remember to apply in my life whenever the imperfection starts to overwhelm me. Because with the right perspective, it's all perfect.

Yes, that's the same photo - just cropped to change my perspective.

This post was inspired by a series of words and created in five minutes at a Hallmark event several weeks ago. I love the concept so much that I'm looking at expanding it, as there is so much word and inspiration from just three randomly drawn words - mine were camera, fancy, sticky, and broken. Any interest in participating in a randomly drawn word post linky?

Come enter a very very fast giveaway ending Sunday night for a Freschetta coupon and two sets of earbuds

And The Procrastination Ends...

I bought my first digital camera when I was on a cruise over New Years during the non-crisis of Y2K. I bought it on the island of St John after haggling with the guys for about 45 minutes and walking out of the store once. Needless to say, I got a pretty good deal and some extras thrown in on my nice little Canon Powershot S30.

It has served me well for years in the picture taking I do. It’s 3.2 megapixels and 10X zoom, which isn’t too bad for picture taking. Especially for someone who’s truly a point and shoot kind of person and has yet to read the manual. There are things I really love about the camera, like the rechargeable battery and the optical viewfinder.

I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been using the optical viewfinder more and more often, as the battery just doesn’t hold a charge like it used to. The camera’s well over eight years old, so what do you expect? I finally decided late last year that it was time to upgrade to a new camera.

I couldn’t decide on a camera as there are quite simply too many cameras out there, so I put it on my wish list.

(Side note: I hate wish lists and believe that you should be able to buy a gift for a person based on what you know about them rather than them handing you a list of things they want that they could go out and buy if they so choose. Finding a gift for someone that they didn’t know they wanted is far more satisfying to me, and it’s how I was raised. After three years of marriage, I gave up when it came to my husband now and simply maintain a long wish list of items so at least I truly don’t know what I’m getting.)

In talking to some people I know who are far more knowledgeable and talented when it comes to cameras, I discovered that staying with a Canon was not a bad move, which I mentioned to my husband. Shockingly, I ended up with a Canon under the Christmas tree.

Except it wasn’t one I wanted. (I’m horrible, aren’t I?) I forget now which model it was, but there were features about it that I didn’t like – maybe it was lacking that optical viewfinder? So I ummm returned it, much to his consternation. Fortunately, he didn’t hold a grudge.

Since that time I’ve periodically tried to do some research on what camera I really do want, but it’s awfully overwhelming. Needless to say, I keep putting off the purchase.

Until tonight.

As you may know from ummm oh reading my blog before, today was the zoo field trip for Mister Man. Shockingly, it was a rush out the door this morning, which meant I got into the car forgetting both my phone and my camera. Fortunately, I realized that I forgot the camera before I actually put the key in the ignition and ran to get it.

Smart me (as opposed to normal me) remembered to charge the battery on Wednesday so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. When I went to take my first picture at the zoo, the LCD screen was black. Ok, so I used the viewfinder (see why I love it so much?) and zoomed in before taking the picture. And that was just the first picture on a supposedly full battery.

Needless to say, I learned something new about the camera. If the battery is low enough to need the viewfinder, while you can zoom the lens, it won’t actually zoom when the picture is taken. Needless to say my far away monkeys show up in the picture very far away.

Taking a picture of Little Miss at dinner tonight caused the same issues. It was really cute – she had a sundae for dessert and picked up the cup it came in to drink out the last of the ice cream. A circle of ice cream and chocolate syrup was pasted onto her face, and she was thrilled with herself. I couldn’t zoom to get the ancillary items out of the picture so it looked funny.

I hit my frustration point then. The gene from my dad kicked in. I came home, fired up the computer and started searching the options on the Canon point and shoot offerings. It’s still clear as mud, but I at least found some insights about what I need and want and am willing to spend.

The winner is the Canon Powershot SD850. It’s officially ordered and on its way. Of course, it’s Friday night, nothing gets picked on Saturdays, Monday is a holiday, and I likely won’t get my camera until the end of next week. Of course now that I finally ordered it, I want it yesterday – or at least this morning!

Oh yeah, and this camera cost half what the one I bought 8 plus years ago did.