My little “guest” photoblogger

In early September, Devin and I drove across the state to visit some good friends (and their adorable dogs). During our visit, we traveled to the Toledo Zoo for some animal antics.

Before we left, I was packing up my camera and Dev asked if he could bring his along. He was gifted with a nice point-and-shoot from a friend of mine a few years back and he’s taken quite a few shots with it. But one time when changing the batteries, Mom (me) broke one of the little plastic pieces off of the battery compartment door and the thing won’t close right anymore. We’ve used tape to try to keep it shut, but it tends to squirrel loose within minutes and the batteries lose contact and, well, it doesn’t work anymore.

So when I went to get it out of the drawer, Dev stopped me and said, “No, Mom…can’t I use your old camera?”

Um.

Well.

Uh.

It’s my D70 that I had for five years. A nice DSLR that cost me a pretty penny in 2004. I haven’t used it since I got my D90, but it’s still in nice enough shape and I thought Scott could put it to use sometime. But a 7-year-old?

It’s not like I haven’t ever allowed him to touch my cameras. Proof.

But the thought of him carrying that heavy, still-valuable camera around the zoo gave me pause.

A short pause, though!

And he was really very careful with it. He kept the strap around his neck and he didn’t complain about hauling it around. (I did nicely swap him my lighter 50mm lens.) Later in the day (the very hot day!) he finally decided to pack it up. After shooting 130+ photos.

Yesterday, several weeks after the fact, I finally downloaded the photos and I was very impressed with many of his shots. Yes, he was using a nice camera, but he was choosing his subjects and angles and composing things from his vantage point. Here I’ve curated some of my favorites for your viewing enjoyment: