Faulty memory
I work(ed) hard and got home late. The first image from my Nikon D70 was after midnight. This was my first serious digital DSLR camera.
My story has always been that the last time I shot a slide (film) was Dave’s graduation. True. But I got the camera on May 25 and shot the graduation on June 1. Ok! Factually correct and not quite accurate. There were a few days and some experimentation to get ready. But, yes, I did not shoot film for the important (graduation) event in question. All digital. Ha! Who knew how the story would unfold and the places I would go? It ain’t over. I still have a Nikon camera. It’s not top model but it is fully serving my needs. Meanwhile I have kept an open mind and use other cameras – right camera for the job, mantra. I never throw things out. That D70 body is lurking about somewhere in a drawer.
Curious
You just don’t stop suddenly. Suddenly, I stopped – taking slides, pictures with film. I transitioned over a period of about a year after receiving a Canon G3 digital camera from Lisa. The DSLR digital cameras were thousands of $, upwards of $5 to $10K! Too expensive! I was wealthy enough, sure. But….
And then, the Nikon D70 arrived just about, right about this time of day/month/year in 2004. It came as David’s graduation commenced. And, I never shot another slide afterwards, just like that! …I eventually threw away a lot of slide film from my freezer.
These were some of the last shots from my film camera. We lived in a nice house, apartment, in Manhattan. I was with Jules at one of her last track meets; she want over to rugby soon after. I was still documenting. I was curious as to the last shots I took with slide film.
I still have my film cameras. My lenses, too, are still functionally fit for my digital cameras. Nikon finally changed the F mount to the Z, but there is an adapter. While the rest of the world shoots iPhone, I happily shoot digital (camera). The cost of a digital image pro-rated over the cost of a 256gb memory card makes digital nearly free when compared to the cost and development of film! That works just fine for me.
Graduation
Another Shutterfly moment from 10 years ago: A good cry! Everyone shed a tear. David left us in Peru to adventure for about two and half years. We were there for a wedding and then a vacation tour. David dropped the bombshell that he would stay on in Peru, travel South America, and find a job maybe in Argentina. He now admits he was equally terrified when he split with us to adventure on his own. After spending years on his own, he surprised everyone by returning on the day of the surprise party. Lisa had graduated and everyone who’d lived through her tribulation was invited by Jules. We actually kept the surprise. But the biggest surprise came just before the party when David appeared at the elevator and hugged everyone. When Lisa saw him for the first time in years, the tears flowed freely. There were not too many dry eyes. I admit we were a little short of tissues.
Graduation
Ten years. Shutterfly keeps sending me reminders of what I did ten years ago. Look? Meanwhile, I had just dreamed I was back in Saudi working. I had a hole in my grey slacks. Imagine the trivial details your mind makes up in dreams. Another school shooting yesterday. It must have weighed in my dream too. I dreamed of a car load of weapons. I don’t shoot. Meanwhile (again), it was Dave’s graduation. Tuition done! I paid. It was a ton of money. He used his degree? I get his periodic USC news magazines. I don’t want them. The best thing of the day? His cousin’s (future) husband arranged for us to have a sushi celebration dinner at a high end LA restaurant. He’s an actor (starving, of course). I don’t eat fish let alone raw. It was sublime! – as in the best I’ve ever had (the one and only time I’ve ever had). Yes, that was the first and last time. If you could bottle a perfect memory that sushi was the quintessential perfect memory. So, there’s no point in ever being disappointed in the future. Lila used to tell me that she remembered many a memorable meal and where she ate it. I don’t “live to eat.” But, sometimes I think of what she said once upon a time.
photobackstory 