Meet the new boss

Originally uploaded by Hilary (curioush)

I bought this guy last weekend off of Craigslist. Earlier in the week I bought the Polaroid SX-70 off of Craigslist that I used to take this photo of the Canon.

This all started with this photo of my grandpa feeding my dad.

A few weeks ago I was back-and-forthing with my friend Darren on Facebook and he asked about this photo and what a great look it had and we got into a photography discussion and it reminded me that I really want to learn to develop film before the opportunity passes me by.

I sort of came to photography from the wrong direction. Or the right direction. My direction. Anyway, I started with a digital camera and then began to shoot a little film in a Holga and then picked up Polaroids and have a few other film cameras but I've never really learned the fundamentals of photography. Someday I'd like to have a little darkroom but first I need to learn how to develop film.

I see that there are classes in film development at the community college. So I needed to get a camera that would be worth shooting with. I've always liked the looks of this Canon, the AE-1. It's just so handsome.

I've been vaguely poking around eBay and elsewhere for a while, thinking maybe I'd pick one up someday. Conversations with Darren and the community college course schedule arriving in my mailbox just about collided with me getting a tax refund in the mail. Most of that is more than spoken for, but I took a little bit and bought this camera and the SX-70 last week. I got terrific deals on both and I am so so happy about that.

I've been cracking open photography books and magazines, which is a change because my heart's not been in the learning and reading for a little while here and I'm feeling reinvigorated and excited about photography in a way that I've been missing for a bit.

Celery

I will be donating a photo to the Missouri Coalition for the Environment's 2009 Earthworks exhibit and auction at the Regional Arts Commission* in the Loop here in St. Louis in May.

I was in this show a couple of years ago and found it to be really cool. So be sure to check it out once it's up!

Still thinking about what photo I'll use. I have a few things in mind. One idea that came to me tonight was one of these photos of celery that I've been working on. In my brain there are reasons why one of these might fit with an environmental theme, but I've not got all the words for it yet.



* I still have a couple of pieces hanging there currently in the Holga Polka Invitational through February 22.