Stranded on the Barton Highway.  Sure, Hipstamatic is fun.  For a while.  But the stress of the stranded on highway/in Yass situation was compounded by not having an SLR camera with me.

I know it sounds petty and childish to have not gotten over the loss of a material possession that got stolen a month ago when I lived in a different country.  Especially in the light of the suffering of those in the Queensland and Victorian floods where people have lost everything, with some even losing their lives.

But I can’t shake this feeling, even if it seems petty or irrational.

I JUST WANT MY REAL CAMERA BACK.

I don’t care about the other stuff that got stolen from my house in DC.  But I miss my camera SO MUCH.

I’ve tried so many photo apps on the iPhone.  But nothing can replace my Canon 50D and Sigma 17-70mm lens that I took nearly all of the photos on this blog on prior to December 2010.  I really, really miss it.  It’s especially tough because I can’t just go out and replace it… being primarily a graduate student now, who blew a lot of her savings on going to the US, I just can’t afford it.

Sure, hipstamatic on the iPhone is fun for a while.  And I have jazzed up some of the photos I took in New Orleans on my battered up old point-and-shoot using the ToyCameraAnalogColor computer app, or Poladroid.  But it isn’t the same.  When I was bored or feeling hemmed in creatively, I would just take out my SLR and go for a wander and I was able to see the world a bit differently, or just play around.  Some of the photos were absolute crap, and yes, I have also taken some photos I like on the point-and-shoot, but I never minded lugging around my bulky SLR.  When travelling, I’d leave my laptop at home before I’d leave the camera.

Maybe I developed some sort of unnatural attachment to my SLR… it was basically my sole travel companion for several months in 2010, so we spent a lot of time together.  But I really miss it.  And it sucks that it is gone.  And the worst part is, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

Sure, this photo of the glass ceiling at the Bellagio in Las Vegas is just FINE taken on a point and shoot.  But it’s not AMAZING.  And the ceiling was AMAZING.