JOY OF A TOY CAMERA

Hey! Did you hear about the latest Nikon 18 megapixel pro SLR with a new image stabilization system that allows you to shoot handheld at a shutter speed of 1/2 second? And what about that new software that allows you to take blurred shots and turn them into tack sharp photos with a single click of the mouse? With all of the fancy, high tech equipment available today, it's easy to succumb to the idea that somehow the camera makes the photographer. Here's a self assignment that can re-open the door to your innate creativity. Sacrifice the flexibility offered by the high tech equipment available today. Go buy a toy digital camera, meant for a young child. Then spend a week photographing everything around you. The idea here is not that you'll come up with the world's greatest photos. Hopefully though, you'll find yourself looking at your world in a different light. The goal is to turbocharge your creativity. Let the lessons learned in this little experiment infuse your photography once you take up your fancy mancy camera and return to serious shooting. Remember, it's not the camera that makes a photographer any more than a hammer and saw make a carpenter. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINS PHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY