Photography Afield
Part 1 - Where to begin
Most people might say that starting out in photography requires your own camera. This is true. Sort of.
My first camera was gifted to me when I traveled to New Zealand for graduate school in 2011. The idea was to take something with me to better share my experiences with friends and family. Like my young, invincible personality, I needed a camera that could go with me on my adventures. Knowing nothing about anything related to cameras other than I didn’t want to use one of those big expensive versions, my gifted point and shoot, the Pentax Optio W90, was perfect. Here’s the description from retailer, B&H:
The Pentax Optio W90 Compact Digital Camera is ideal for the adventurous photographer as it allows shooting in extreme environmental conditions. It is waterproof to up to 20' (6.1 m), great for snorkeling, boating or shooting in the rain or snow. It is also dustproof so you don't have to worry about ruined images due to external factors...so go ahead and shoot in a dust storm. -B&H
Extreme environmental conditions. Dust storm compatible. Well. If you’re not sold on adding this forerunner of imaging technology to your gear list then maybe photography isn’t for you. As far as first cameras go, this was an ideal fit. It fit well in the zip pocket of my waders, survived the front pocket of my whitewater kayaking PFD (Personal Flotation Device), and added almost no weight to any of my backpacking packs. The camera also took little skill to use, which was also good, because I had no skill. Power on, power off, zoom in, zoom out, take photo or video. Done. It worked, fortunately, as described. And come on, the Optio W90 looked cool online. How many cameras do you see advertised covered in rain?
My first, trusted, point and shoot camera did have one responsibility that it shared with all cameras other than surviving my excursions: it needed to take photos. Here are a few of my favorite samples taken from this exact model:
