The more photos I see, the more I miss shooting film.

I miss the value of a photograph taken when you only have a roll of 24.  When you have a limited number of photos to take, you think about each one a little harder.  I miss planning my shots like that.

I love digital – because I know I’ll always have photos I can use, and I can always take more if I need to.  But the pictures I get from my first-generation Nikon D70 aren’t that great.  The color saturation is typically pretty poor.  I always have to pump them up in PhotoShop.  And even when I use my 50mm f1.8 lens, I’m still not that happy with my shots.

I know, I know, I need to upgrade.  People tell me I can’t be a professional and not shoot Canon.  I’m not sure that’s true, but I definitely need something newer and better than what I have if I want to keep shooting digital.  Or maybe, I’ll just switch back to my Pentax K1000 or my Nikon FE.  I’ll build a studio and darkroom in my dad’s house and I’ll be fine.  I’ll track down black and white film from some tiny dealer in New York, and buy processing chemicals in bulk.  I’ll probably have to buy a deep-freeze, too, just to keep the chemicals longer.  But my photos will be a bit more beautiful.

Maybe for the 10-megapixel camera I buy next, I will use only 128 or 256mb cards.  That way, I will have a limited number of shots per card, and I’ll have to think a little more about each one.

I’d love to set my sights on a new DSLR, but I just need a few more photo gigs before I can invest that kind of change in a tool which I won’t often use.  And by the time I have that change, there will be a newer, more expensive camera I’d rather have.  Ohhh well.