JPG Magazine: Stories: My Precious: A Photographic Affair of the Heart

A Photographic Affair of the Heart

I am having an affair. My wife is sick of me talking about it, and my colleagues at work don't understand it - I toss and turn in my sleep as images float through my dreams, I sit in meetings at work staring into space, and am late home at least twice a week. I am smitten. I am in love with the Canon EOS 400D, but the problem is I don't have one.

It's Flickr's fault. I had for whatever reason left my interest in photography by the wayside, and was happy with my world just the way it was - me and my Fujifilm Finepix S602 Zoom, messing around on holiday or the occasional weekend, we had a solid relationship built on trust and open communication. Then I discovered Flickr. Since then, the trips out on weekends have become more than 'occasional' and my love of photography has been rekindled and bloomed into something akin to obsession. The distinguished JPG reader will understand - I'm seeing things differently, as if my eyes have been opened and everywhere I go I'm looking through a viewfinder. On the train the other day there was a guy taking pictures, and the first thing I thought was 'Is he using an EOS? What's his Flickr handle?'.. I had to move to his end of the carriage to get a closer look. I think I really might be obsessed. This kind of enthusiasm in an interest or hobby would normally be a good thing, but the more I yearn for that perfect shot the more I realise the limitations of my S602 - I'm starting to get resentful.

I get good shots sometimes but I crave the lens compatibility of the 400D, the 10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, the 9-point wide-area focusing, and custom functions. And the 0.2 second start up time! This is the stuff that dreams are made of. No more would my subject be half-way down the street by the time the viewfinder lights up. The relationship with my current camera is therefore on rocky ground. I find I now treat it with a little less care than I used to; I stop giving it the chance to take a shot, instead shrugging off the possibility because the colour won't be crisp enough, or the zoom won't be long enough; my photography habits are becoming erratic and I get uncomfortable around it, post-processing too much as a result. All the tell-tale signs that the guilt of my affair is getting to me.

So if you see a tall stranger transfixed on the window of your local camera store, please don't disturb me - I'm probably dealing with the inner turmoil this affair has created. But what happens next? The best advice on affairs I could get from online sources was to ask myself this question: 'Do I want to be in this relationship more than I want to be out of it?'. The answer is easy: 'Hell yeah'.

Please Lord, send me a Canon EOS 400D to love.

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