A time line:

On July 4, 1988, I received my first camera as a birthday gift.  I was ten.  It was a gray and pink Polaroid Instant, with which I took many over- and underexposed photos.

In the 1990s, I discovered disposable cameras.  Many terrible, dark, blurry, and overexposed photos ensued.  Once in a while something worth a second glance.

Six or so years ago, I received my first digital camera.  It was a Canon Powershop “point-n-shoot.”  The number of photos I took in one sitting skyrocketed from “a few” to “hundreds.”

Seven years back, I started snapping candids at work using the office Canon Digital Rebel EOS SLR because no one else had the time or inclination.  The agency’s digital photo library became significantly plump.  A new network server was purchased for increased storage capacity.  Might have had something to do with me.

Three years ago, I bought my second digital camera (another Canon Powershot) used from a college-age man who invited me to sit down at our bus stop meeting location as though it was his office.  He was very polite but hesitant to admit, yes, he had dropped the camera once.  But it was working fine!  The camera came to an unceremonious end (i.e. one day, didn’t turn on.)

Over the past year, I’ve marked the deaths of the above digital, a second digital borrowed from family, and a Canon Digital Elph work camera (cameras + preschool = no-camera.)  And this year, I’ve taken up shooting with film, using a (on permanent-loan from my father) Canon Rebel SLR film camera.  Lo and behold, I love shooting with film, again!

To illustrate this point, a video: