Tuesday, May 15, 2012

My New Toy: Part Two

I have such clever readers.  And their responses to my last post were ALL correct.  Part of my sister's legacy to me, aside from the role model she provided and the countless ways she influenced my life, was this:



My sister was a gifted photographer.  She would spend hours in uncomfortable positions, usually lying flat on the cold hard ground, waiting for that perfect shot. She belonged to the Summerland Camera Club, entered competitions, and was also a judge at some events.



Carole's partner Bev was her sherpa, her go-fer, her packer and unpacker of all this photographic 'stuff'.  And Bev's last camera-packing job for Carole was to pack up all the gear and send it on home with me.  Five boxes of stuff.  Books and lenses and filters and tripods and cases and reflectors and fancy frames to make star-shaped images and a zillion things I haven't yet figured out.





Among the treasures are two cameras - a film Nikon F-801 which she used for slide photography, and a digital Canon EOS Rebel XSi.  I t was with the Canon, plus a Canon EF-S 18-200mm  zoom lens and a  UV Haze filter, that I captured the photo of Allie in sunlight, the teaser in the previous post.  I assure you, the quality of the shot was purely a fluke.  So far I've only made it to paragraph five of the manual, which appears to be written in some secret code.   Apparently I am a hands-on, trial-and-error learner.......and believe me, this will be a steep learning curve.  But what a gift, what an opportunity to follow in my big sister's photofootsteps.

One day I will post some of my sister's wonderful photos - Bev is currently helping her elderly mother to move, but will forward some to me when she has had time to catch her breath - but if you look closely at this picture of my new toy, you'll see one of my sister's photos just behind the camera.  Ironically, it is also of a cat in sunlight.  And I didn't notice that until just now:



I look forward to many happy hours (and no doubt many frustrating ones too) learning to capture our beautiful world through the lens of my sister's camera.  I hope I can grow to be half the photographer she was.

8 comments:

Funder said...

Wow, that looks like a really lovely setup! What a wonderful gift and a great way to remember her.

Anonymous said...

such a legacy for you who so enjoys her photography..enjoy the learning curve..

Cheryl

Dom said...

Wow. That is a lot of photo gear.

Black Jack's Carol said...

I love it! This is just the best legacy from, and remembrance of, Carole. You will have a lifetime of pleasure (and yes, maybe a bit of frustration) from your new toy, Jean. I took the leap and joined a camera club, and to my surprise, am finding it a lot of fun. You may want to consider that.

I'm combining a comment to a few of your posts, here. Your Mother's Day words were so beautifully and honestly written, I read the post several times, even once, out loud to Bill.

Also loved your, "In my next life, I wanna be a dog" post, and am really happy that Carole's Celebration of Life weekend brought you such a warm and (may I say) fulfilling range of emotions.

Caroline said...

The opportunity to see things the way she saw them, what a great gift! And the cat picture was simply a sign that the camera equipment is exactly where she'd want it to be!
Have fun and please share the results with us!

Brigid said...

What a wonderful legacy - creating memories in the way Carole would have wanted. Loved your photo of Allie, Jean

georgia little pea said...

What a wonderful gift. They should keep you busy for a long time.

I can't wait to see your sister's pictures. I love looking at photos, especially photojournalistic ones that tell a story. Almost all my pictures are taken with an iPhone (haha), and while I'm awfully envious of your spread, I don't think I could pick up the intricacies of working a real camera in this lifetime. I just don't have the brain for it :)

Have a great weekend! x

Anonymous said...

What a wondeful legacy Jean.

Else