I sadly have decided to part with my work horse Canon 1D Mark II as technology has moved quickly and need the larger, faster, and overall better Mark IV model. I placed the add on craigslist the other night and yet to have anyone with any real interest make an offer. I did get the ridiculously fictitious email from some kid in a third world internet cafe asking me if I’d sell my item (they got no clue what I’m selling) to them at a higher price and if I would ship it to their cousin who is attending Oxford. Uh huh…ok.
Funny enough, I spied myself on TV the other night during a news spot on a Japanese real estate developer here in Honolulu filmed about three years ago in Kahala. I was taking pictures with that trusty camera I’m hoping to sell.
The photos were shot for the Associated Press and they went around the nation. The New York Times ran the story on their metro section. That was a big story because this rich Japanese guy was going to let several homeless people of Hawaiian decent live in his multimillion dollar mansions in one of the riches parts of Honolulu. Needless to say he wasn’t too popular with the neighbors.
You can see the story here from the Times.
A bit of reminiscing about days past and time with that camera. It got me through a big portion of my growing career. How that camera got me through tough times and the easy days indeed. The camera has taken pictures of just about anything you can imagine. It has photographed Tiger Woods, Dwane “Dog” the Bounty Hunter, Felicity Huffman, actors on Lost, University of Hawaii football, Kobe Bryant and Michelle Wie. Its shot food, beaches, and girls. Its done everything.
One of the more pungent moments was the depression of Banda Aceh.
The shot above is of a group of Rescue workers organized in Mexico called TOPOS. I met and followed the group around Banda Aceh as they pulled bodies from the remains of that destroyed city. It poured like only a tropical city can at that decisive moment when they carried a body out of a decimated building. The camera rattled away. What a moment. What a time. It was really my loss of innocence at that point. More on the tsunami in the future.
As I researched through my photos for this blog I came across this photo of myself from 2005 while I stood in the mess of Banda Aceh’s destruction…my trusty camera at my side.
Why part with it? Well…its just a tool. Its really how you use it. Cliche, yes but absolutely true. I’ve gone through so many cameras in my relatively short professional career. Yet to depart with this one is like parting with the memories of said picture of me.
Eh…its just a camera.
You wanna buy it? Its a bit famous.
Here is the ad on craigslist.org
