Outside of human friends, this guy is my best friend.
This post is written in conjunction with the 30 Days of Writing, a blog challenge devised by Nicky and Mike at “We Work For Cheese.” I’ll be participating throughout the month of June. If interested, you can see my post with the details of the challenge.
Please note that some of these posts will be serious, some will be normal, and some will be an attempt at humor. This one has a little of everything.
I could spend a lot of time talking about best friends.
See, I don’t believe in the “one” best friend. I feel any close friend is a best friend of sorts. So I could talk about traveling with some best friends. Or being in a wedding. Or playing softball. Or learning some new outdoorsy game, like geocaching. Or traveling half way across the country to see someone really get a start in life.
This guy was my best friend for a few years as well.
There are close friends who I only talk to like three or four times per year. But they are still close friends, thus a best friend of sorts.
And having best friends is a wonderful things. I’ve had the chance to see many of them get married, have kids, succeed in life. Many have been there for me, too, especially over the past year and a half when I’ve needed many “lift-me-up” moments.
But, I fear if I talk about some of this stuff, I’ll leave someone out.
So I’m going to go somewhere else with this.
My camera.
Photography goes back a long way with me and my family.
My grandfather was an avid photographer (I wish I had some of his old images… they would be cool to have and look at). When I was younger and we visited them in Philadelphia, he’d take me on his daily walk to a Fotomat booth to drop off or pick up film. He’d always joke that he was going to visit his “girlfriend, so don’t tell grandmom.”
Of course, those “girlfriends” were way younger and not really girlfriends!
If it was a day he picked up film and I was lucky enough, he would let me open up the envelope to see the wonderful images he took. It was so cool!
My friendship with photography started there.
As I grew, I used many different types of cameras. Old Kodak 120 cameras, the disc cameras, point-and-shoots and, eventually learning the film 35mm cameras when I worked for my first newspaper — as a seventh and eighth grader working for the local daily.
My uncles still love photos. In fact, one of my uncles gave me one of my grandfather’s final cameras he used. A nice 35mm film camera. I need to get another lens or two for it, but it works very well. It’s cool to have.
For a few years, when I went back to college in the late 90s/early 2000s, I stepped away from photography. Film was expensive and I couldn’t afford the digital age. That would come at a later time.
My current buddy. When this guy arrives, I was in total euphoria.
Photography has exploded in recent years.
With digital being as it is, it becomes cheaper and cheaper. Many people are discovering photography and utilizing it. I’m on my third digital SLR and love this camera more than I can say.
It’s been to Ireland with me. It’s visited all sorts of areas I’ve been to. It’s taken sports photos, weddings, kids of friends, people shots, candids and so much more. I love having the camera with me.
Having the camera gives me some freedom and the feeling of knowing I can make some sort of art any time I snap the shutter. My current pal has probably taken more than 100,000 images since I bought it in 2010 — and that’s a low-ball estimate.
And, it also takes HD video — which kicks total ass.
Believe me, I have some great best friends. And many of them have been in the photos I’ve taken. But, as I noted, I’d leave someone out with a post about them. They know who they are and what they mean to me.
They also know what the camera means to me and that’s proof of a good friendship.
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