For the last few months it has seemed that I have been rushing around or just collapsing when I was not working. Yeah, sometimes I would write a blog entry, sometimes I would work on a PERL project or two, but it seems that I have not had the time or even the inclination to do something I love. I think that should change.

People who know me know that I love photography. I love the art of the craft, the hunt for the shot, the discovery that is waiting to be found in the most unusual places. I am not talking about the snapshots we all take, but the craft of what photography truly is; self-expression through a visual medium.

Recently I came across some extra cash that has helped out my situation greatly. Besides from getting a new computer (the one I am writing this on in fact) I acquired a new camera. The camera is a Minolta 7D, a pro-sumer body that works with all my old lenses. With it I purchased a 2Gig 120x flash card and some extra stuff, but the upshot is I can take over 650 photos with having to buy film and get VERY high res shot through professional lenses.

Why is this important? Well, have you looked at the price of film these days? I am not talking about your average Kodak 200 film, I am talking Kodak and Fuji professional films, the ones I like to shoot when I am serious about photography. Anyway, they are running about $10 a roll for 24 exposures. Added to that cost processing (and not one hour processing that screws up the negs because 5000 other rolls have been processed through it already) at about $20 a roll with 4x6 prints and that comes out to about $30 a roll. That is costly and I have not even ordered enlargements yet.

Now, take that and compare it against the cost of the new camera I bought… If I can get 650 shot all on one flash card (and that is re-useable) and fill it twice, I will have paid for the camera and all the other goodies and then some. That is to say, 50 rolls of film and I am on the upside of the cost! What a deal and the results are of the quality that I can accept.

So, I now have the freedom to go pursue a hobby and love I have not had the luxury to do in a long time simply because it was so expensive. Now that has al changed and I plan on letting the creative juices flow. Check here for photos from my excursions.