The day my camera died.

I think  my camera died of a broken heart.

I went on vacation and I didn't even abuse my camera. Camera thought, "Wait, what?"

I came home from vacation, put Camera on the shelf. The shelf with all the dust and neglect. I looked for inspiration. I felt guilty that I hadn't touched her for days. Days turned into weeks. I just didn't feel it. I don't know if it was cabin fever and being stuck inside so much of the time, or just that every "camera" moment told me, "You already have 100 pictures like that."

Until one day  the death grip of Florida heat finally broke, I was inspired by Carol's post (see here), and a new photo opportunity presented itself. That Saturday morning, we were set to hang out with the in-laws in the extremely picturesque downtown St. Pete.

I was ready. Have you ever seen a Banyan tree? To adults, they are very cool. Mammoth trees with gnarly trunks, roots, and vines.

 

As funky as they look with adult eyes, to a child's eyes, they are much more. They are a jungle of adventure.
And even adults can climb up into them and smile for the camera.
I realized that I truly suck at taking pictures of groups of people. I don't know how to get them to cooperate.  I can't find the right mix of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.

 

And I'm the worst at composing groups. Seriously. But I know it, and so that gives me the chance to practice and learn. (GAH, I wish I weren't such a slow learner.) 

Just as I was making this assessment of myself and thinking about ways to learn, Camera died. "Error, press shutter release again," it said. And so I did. I tried every way I know to pump its chest and breathe life back into it. No go. I tried to hide my feelings of loss until I could go home, search the internet for answers, call Nikon, or whatever. Eventually I learned that it's just  glitch in my Nikon D60. An expensive glitch that will take several weeks to fix.  Well, fill my cup with despair. Thanks, Nikon.

Luckily for me, on Camera's last breath,  I snapped my favorite picture of the day.