I'm addicted to cameras. Every size and shape... Mostly I love old or toy cameras. There has to be something significant about it for me to love. If it's too old to use, I love it because it's old. If it's cheap and a 'toy' camera, I love it because each shot is low quality, in a beautiful way. I love my digital SLR and 80mm lens for the beautiful shot it takes, but it doesn't compare to my love for my film cameras. This is my current list of cameras:
There are several variations of medium format cameras, and I use a Diana F+. It's a toy camera, which means that it's made of plastic and not put together very well. This causes light leaks, lens flares, and other beautiful imperfections which make every shot unique. On a Diana (or similar toy camera, such as a Holga), you can also create double exposures and panoramas.
I love Polaroid. In fact, I once made a one-episode podcast about it. It's brilliant. You snap a photo, and all the chemicals necessary for developing film and printing photographs appear in a tiny magical square in your hands, and you watch as your creation swims into view. I boldly declare that no camera-related idea will truly top instant film. Even digital has to be, in some way, uploaded and printed. I used to be able to buy Polaroid 600 film at Walmart for $26 for 10 frames. I think they've discontinued it permanently. What a disappointment. I'll always love my Polaroids. Magic in a square.
You can reproduce a digital image a million times, tweak and alter it, or erase it with the push of a button. You can never exactly recreate what comes out of a film camera, and that's why I love it. Digital bores me. When you've gone too far, the only thing you can do is turn around and go back where you came from.
I learned so much in this class! HTML, CSS and PHP are like magic. At first, it seemed like a crazy language that I would never learn, because it's completely different from anything I've done before. However, it started to emerge, and I find myself understanding more and more every day. It makes me feel really smart. I take a lot of photographs, so I am pretty organized with my photographs (folders within folders within folders), so that I can always find what I'm looking for. That helped prepare me to be organized with HTML and other folders. Some learning just comes with time, after you do it over and over. Of course I learn better as I use my knowledge practically, when creating websites.
