Dear Kodak Digital...

Dear Kodak Digital,

I've had you for roughly five years now. You've traveled quite a bit and you held up just nicely. All of those times when you've gone to school with me, that time you went to New Orleans with me and took too many pictures to count (thanks for counting all of those pictures for me too), the road trips where you sat in the bottom of my bag until I really, really needed you, because they haven't invented those retina cameras yet. You've documented my life when I asked you to because I know that one day, I'm probably going to forget everything, which is something I don't want to do. Ever.

But I've been thinking lately. As I look through pictures that my friends have taken, those cameras have something you don't have any more-- clarity. Maybe that's my fault. I can't seem to hold you still for crap. But really, this wouldn't be a problem if you had a faster shutter. You could take really sharp photos instantly and most of the time, it wouldn't matter how much I was moving.

To finish my point, I'm starting to get a little more serious about photography and you're kind of slowing me down. I've noticed that you tend to bleed the color out of the photos too, so I have to go into the editor on my computer and make what color there already is pop more, which blurs something else. That's another thing I need from you. Literally take a moment and keep it the way it was. Don't go about your fancy diluting thing. Colors won't hurt you.

I plan on going to France in a little over a year. I want to take a gazillion pictures so I can remember that trip always. Even if I do go back another time, it probably won't be the same, because this upcoming trip has me staying in a French family for five days. I won't be able to recreate that very easily unless I see that family (and the families of the girls we've hosted in the past) again.

Don't get me wrong, we've had a good run. I won't regret getting you from Target in the first place. I was ecstatic when I got my first camera. But that's just what you are. You were my first real camera (the disposable ones don't count). But I've grown up a bit and you seem to be a piece of technology stuck in time.

You could say that this is my break-up letter to you.

Can we still be friends? I mean, we have such a history. Do we really just want to throw that all away?

Any way, I just wanted to tell you that you are welcome to stay here, but I'm looking for a new camera that fits what I need. You just need to face the fact that I'm moving on now. But I still love you. the magic is just gone...

Love,

Jude

(I'm now thoroughly positive that if anyone breaks up with me in the future, it'll have to be them, because I would bore them to death with my long-ish break-up letters. I think they'd want to escape with their life at least. Any way, I haven't gotten a new camera yet. I'm still in the market. If you have any suggestions of a good camera that is pretty reasonably priced, please leave a comment. I will definitely look into it).