Back in my school days I longed for a quality SLR camera but none of the, then, available cameras much appealed to me. Then Canon introduced its much anticipated EOS line in early 1987 which combined fully automatic autofocus and metering with integrated lenses. That Christmas I was fortunate enough to get a Canon EOS 650 camera. There after my system grew to include the following components, along with their place and date of manufacture determined from their respective date codes:

Canon EOS 650 Camera, FB0713, Fukushima, Japan, July 1987
EF 50mm f/1.8 Lens, UB0400, Utsunomiya, Japan, April 1987
420EX Speedlite, SB0802, ???, August 1987
EF 70-210mm f/4 Lens, UB1101, Utsunomiya, Japan, Nov. 1987
EF 28mm f/2.8, UC0703, Utsunomiya, Japan, July 1988
Electronic Date Back, FE0909, Fukushima, Japan, Sept. 1990

Anyone who knew me in college and grad school knows I was never far from my EOS 650 (left). I've been wanting a digital SLR for a few years now, but much like my initial acquisition of a film SLR, all the features I wanted in a digital SLR weren't available...until now. After traipsing around these past years with a point-and-shoot, I'm back to an SLR with my new Canon EOS Rebel T1i a/k/a 500D (right).

My love affair with my film camera began to fade with the advent of digital cameras, you just can't beet the instant feedback of a digital imagery. From right to left, a Kodak DC3200 which, much like crack from a digital camera dealer, came free with our first PC computer purchase in 2001. Since then the addiction to digital has required stronger and stronger "fixes," continuing on: Canon PowerShot A80, Canon PowerShot A610 and Canon PowerShot A650 IS.

While just having the camera a few days, we are already impressed with the quality of the pictures delivered by the camera. (And, yes, I'm well aware of people who can get amazing photographs from crappy cameras...I hate them, and this guy too.) Anyway, for me at least, the camera does make a difference and below are just a few shots taken with our new Canon EOS T1i which are of a better quality than I could have taken (with my limited abilities) with our old digital cameras. Look for improved photography from us in the future!

Mama took this photo of Landon one evening in the lousy florescent light of a bathroom.

Landon again, both photos taken without a flash. The best thing about the new camera is how it doesn't need a flash most of the time.

After dinner tonight, the boys ran around outside playing lawnmower tag (don't ask!). I keep calling them over to take pictures and try out different camera settings. Will is is such a hoot, he's always got a comical expression ready to show off.

Here's a spontaneous pucker for the camera from Will.

Drew was quite sweaty after running around. Could those dimples be any deeper?

One of the first pictures I took with the new camera: flash off, some natural light, a handsome model, point, shoot...whoa!

Even Joey looks better with the new camera. This was just a test shot late the first night I had the camera with the only light in the room behind Joey. All I did was turn the flash off and the camera exposed everything just right!

You just can't beat a subject exposed by natural light. I love this photo! Much, much more to come, I'm sure.

[I also updated the post about Drew's pre-k field trip to the Tulsa Zoo.]