“A week of photographs, and I think Big Mavica and I now need a vacation from each other.”

The Jackson River and the Alleghany Mountains in Alleghany County, VirginiaI spent six full days photographing Virginia over the course of Spring Break week, and what a week it was… I went to the Washington DC area, I went to Richmond, I went to Norfolk, I went to Clifton Forge and Covington, I went out to Lake Moomaw (one of the pictures from there is seen at right), I went to Roanoke, and I went to Charlottesville. And with all that, I got 2,860 photographs, all at Big Mavica’s awesome 4.0 megapixel resolution. And with spending that much time with Big Mavica, I got to really know it well, and I got to know all of its weird little quirks better than ever before in the four or so months that I’ve had it. And it’s really kind of like spending too much time around a person – every little odd thing they do eventually starts to get on your nerves. The 3X optical zoom proved to be a bother for some pictures, but fine for most, and for those that it was a bother, really started to aggravate me. Then there was dealing with the CDs… I had to keep it level while it was burning the pictures to the CDs, or else it would take forever to save them and eventually fill up the buffer. Then there’s the “Repairing Data” bit when it’s fixing a bad recording. That’s like the kid on the playground. You do something, the teacher pulls you out, and you get time-out for a few minutes. That’s what “Repairing Data” feels like. But that aside, I also came up with some hideous jokes about Big Mavica. Lines like “Chicks really dig guys with Big Mavicas” and “Is that a Big Mavica or are you just glad to see me?” Mom came up with one, too, saying that people with Big Mavicas are probably compensating for something. Still, Big Mavica and I had fun, all in all, and I think I’ve probably got enough photographs to last me until at least July…


Date posted: March 18, 2003