(This is part 2 of my history with camera.  Part 1 was last week.)

I remember clearly when my husband and I bought our first digital camera. He’d done the homework and researched what model would be the best for us, but I don’t remember now exactly what model we ended up with. I’m pretty sure it was an HP. We bought it at a Sears in Manassas. We were excited like a couple of kids at Christmas.

I was excited, but skeptical. I couldn’t understand how a camera without film would even work. How could a computer sensor ‘sense’ the light coming through the lens, much less record it? And record it on what? A tiny card that wasn’t even a floppy disk or a CD?

Digital Camera Sensor borrowed from DigitalPhotographyfromScratch.com

But it worked. We took photos of our the car and each other in the parking lot of the Sears and marveled at the ability to see the photos instantly on the little screen.

That was about 10 years ago. That particular camera eventually went wonky and we replaced it with the next higher model HP. I never quite understood how they worked, but I was enamored of the fact that I could take as many photos as I wanted without incurring extra costs for film and only paid for the ones that were printed.

But soon, the urge to have a SLR came back stronger than ever. So, I began reading about the digital SLRs. I was intimidated by the price, but also by the overwhelming amount of photographic knowledge of which I was ignorant. I’d heard some of the terms — f-stop, aperture, shutter speed, and so forth — but certainly had no idea how to use them. Every camera I’d ever owned had been a point-and-shoot of some variety.

After a while, however, I took the plunge and got my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel XT. The HP point-and-shoot became solely my husband’s. I’ve haven’t looked back since.

I taught myself how to use the Canon and I loved the ability to take photos of absolutely everything and anything that caught my fancy. And I took a LOT of photos. (And still do. I can easily do 200 in a 2-3 hr walk. More, if I go someplace new with new critters and plants to capture.)

I used my pictures not only for blogs or posting online, or for documenting our family events, but also to capture images of plants and animals that I would then identify when I got home. I sat on the back deck and snapped photos of every bird that came to the feeders so I could learn what they were.

And my photography skills improved. I taught myself (from books and the internet) how to use the features on the camera (or most of them, anyway.) As my skills improved, I wanted to share my photos with everyone. So I began publishing a calendar that included my 13 best photos every year.

And while the Canon Rebel XT was a perfectly adequate camera, eventually I longed for something bigger, better, faster, more.

In 2010, I upgraded to a Canon D-50 DSLR and passed my Rebel down to my husband. I even invested in a couple of really nice lenses, one a zoom and one a macro, so I could get even better shots of nature to learn from, to enjoy, and to share. And, as I wrote a few weeks ago, I even had a professional photographer friend give me some tips on using the manual settings, which improved my pictures even more.

I’ll never be a professional photographer. My photos will never be in National Geographic. But I love taking pictures. Even with my iPhone. If I see an unusual bug or flower or mushroom or tree or rock formation or a dead animal, I want to take it home with me and learn everything about it. And I want to share it with everyone else. Digital photography has given me that dream come true.