Recently, I got a camera. It was a birthday present I had wished for after falling into a rabbit hole of photography. Previously, I had a really old, tiny point-and-shoot camera. For reference, it was already tucked away in storage by the time we took our class trip to the Texas capitol in Austin, the trip which taught me how fun it was to snap photos of everything I saw, putting something that would’ve otherwise been a blurry memory, into something more: a blurry photo.
During the 2023 travel society trip to France, I rediscovered this little camera, and it wasn’t actually all that bad—until you start zooming in and counting the number of pixels someone’s face is made up of. But that’s not what matters—it was fun. Maybe a little too fun, considering the battery died before the evening of almost every day.
With these experiences in the back of my head and refreshed by a YouTube spiral of fancy, expensive cameras and lenses that were better than what I had in almost every way, I decided I wanted one for myself. This turned out to be a great decision. After some research, I decided to go with something which had film simulation that was still pocketable, since I was used to that. I ended up with a used but functional Fujifilm XF10. It’s amazing. Sure it’s small and elegant and well-built and easy to use, but above all, it has incredible film simulation, or the ability to mimic old analog film cameras.
In the days following my birthday, my friends can attest I was begging for someone to go off-campus with me to test it out. After some persuasion and a few Brawl Stars matches, I had convinced someone, and as soon as I did, I went on a spree and took many photos I’m very pleased with. Maybe they’re not “composed” perfectly, but hey, they look pretty.
Ever since I got the camera, I’ve begun looking at the world a little differently, framing a picture in my mind and paying more attention to the light and shadows, actively looking for the beauty in simple objects. In photography, you literally look at things from a different perspective to make them appear better, or even move the subject to suit your needs. Figuratively, it’s useful to look at things in a different light, and I think overall I proactively view the world as a bright setting, rather than a simple backdrop.
