No photo today

My camera died yesterday.

Actually, it drowned, victim of a leak in the underwater housing.

I am amazed at my reaction to the loss of the camera. And it really is a loss. Part of what I'm feeling is truly grief.

I think that's weird.

But I truly feel naked without my little camera with me. It's certainly not my only camera but it's the one I take to the beach every day. It's the one I take in the ocean and the one I use to shoot the KAP pictures. It's the one I carry with me pretty much all the time. Without Elaine, it has been a friend, a companion. As much as Lola's, my photography is an integral part of how I define myself here in PR.

Not having it feels like a handicap. Without it, there are things I cannot do - KAP, underwater, etc. I apologize to those with real handicaps, but I do now have a deeper level of empathy.

I was surprised at how and how strongly I reacted, but Elaine was not. Even from a distance she immediately recognized how much I need photography. She has my back up camera and immediately offered to send it to me. At first I said no. Then later I humbly said "please."

So now I just have to wait patiently. In a few days I will have my camera back.

In the mean time, I've sent the drowned camera to Canon to be repaired (hopefully) and I'm searching the Internet for another underwater camera, one that does not rely on a separate housing. I think I've found one - the Pentax Optio W30. It's 7.1 mp, the same as my Canon. The zoom is not quite as good but that's not terribly important underwater. It's only waterproof to 10 feet but I use it snorkeling. Ten feet is about as deep I as ever go. We'll see.