Somewhere around 2001 or so, I was gifted a small point-and-shoot camera and an HP photo printer. Up until then, photography was just a minor curiosity—something other people were into that occasionally caught my eye.
That changed once I realized a digital camera meant unlimited shots and zero film development costs. Instant gratification took over, and off to the races we went.
Then came a Friday evening when I left the camera in a coat pocket lying in the back seat of my truck. Thieves, being the snakes they are, came slithering around and found the door unlocked—either because I forgot to lock it or because the sensitive key fob accidentally unlocked it in my pocket. Naturally, they wanted the camera more than I did, and away it went.
That loss pushed me to invest what felt like serious money into a real camera: roughly $400 to $500 for a brand-new Sony DSC-H1. With its massive 12x optical zoom, usable manual settings, and crisp viewfinder, it was a monumental step up from my basic point-and-shoot—and the official start of my lifelong shutterbug virus/bug.
