I have a new project. It's a bit hard to show what I'm doing. Mostly it involves deleting digital image files rather than creating anything real. In 2004 I bought a very basic digital camera, from Groupon. That first one replaced a point and shoot film camera that was probably about ten years old.
I think I'd been camera-less for around a year between the demise of the film camera and the arrival of the digital one.
Finances were very tricky during that era, so I used that little digital camera for several years. When I say basic, I think the file size under 1 meg. My current DSLR has 24-meg resolution. Even my older model Samsung phone has a 12-meg resolution! We've come a long way since those early days!
I received a Samsung L110 camera for my birthday in 2008. (Erin had the previous model and I'd often used hers before receiving mine). I had great results with those two Samsungs and really enjoyed playing with them, so much so that Nick did a lot of research and gifted my first DSLR for Christmas in 2009. He decided on Nikon as a brand, with D40 as the model. It rated very highly in reviews (one in particular by a professional photographer), even against the later models (they were up to the D90 at that stage, which is very whizz-bang with in-built movie and lots of other stuff but much heavier as a result - and definitely a lot more expensive).
The D40 was still being sold new in USA but Nick found an excellent eBay deal for a pre-loved, hardly used one, which included two lenses and various other accessories. I loved that D40 and carried it everywhere!
In May 2012, Nick decided to "invest" in me, so upgraded my D40 to a D7000. It was a quantum leap forward (16-meg vs 6-meg) and great timing also because the D40 failed not long after that. As it happened, a few months later, in August, Getty Images invited me to submit 19 images to them for licensing!
Buoyed by that success, I opened my RedBubble shop in September 2012. My Getty portfolio now stands at 33 and I have 53 images available via Redbubble (link in the right sidebar). I've made commission sales via both platforms and sold other work also.
I can be reluctant to embrace new technology but came to love the D7000 - and the 16-85mm lens (specifically chosen for the bushwalking and geocaching we were doing then). The D7000 needed some minor repairs in December 2015. I felt lost without it and told Nick I didn't need any other Christmas gift, he could just wrap my repaired camera and I'd be happy! As it happened, Nick collected my camera after night-shift on 23 December and it did stay under the tree till Christmas morning (though obviously was the first thing I unwrapped)!
My latest Nikon is a D750, gifted in February 2019 as a distraction after the death of my mother. It was an excellent pre-loved purchase, again thanks to Nick's extensive research. I'm still learning the nuances of the D750. As it's a full-frame camera, my lovely 16-85mm lens wasn't compatible so I needed to adjust to a new camera/lens combination but am feeling more comfortable with both, though they're definitely heavier than my D7000 setup. (All other comparison aside, the D750 has 24-meg resolution, rather than 16-meg).
Nick has just read over this post and and commented that he doesn't see my cameras as gifts but rather necessities. We've dealt with huge drama over the years and while some people may drink or smoke to cope with stress, I took photos. Many photos. My camera and photos were my solace, providing some respite from all that was going on around me/us.
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