My oldest son and his friend get snapped by my "friend" and I.

If you're a gadget addict like me it's easy to have older, yet perfectly good tech become a digital castoff when a new product comes home. Sadly this became the case with my Nikon D70 (affiliate link) when we purchased a point and shoot to take with us on a family vacation a few years ago. Through some recent trips down a memory lane of photography, I'm starting to right that wrong and spend more time with my old friend.

When my wife and I adopted out cat Stan more than six years ago, he was treated as our first child. We took countless photos of him and it was during those shoots, trying to capture every intricate movement, that I realized I needed to upgrade from my Olympus C1400 and get something that allowed for finer tuning (and a faster shutter).

After much research and contemplation, I decided to get the Nikon D70. We were inseparable. It traveled with us to Vegas and Arizona, helped us capture family events, holidays, and the ever-elusive Stan. It was a great partnership...until the new guy showed up.

How a trip to Disney World altered a friendship.
In 2008 my family and I took a trip to Disney World in Orlando, FL. Based on our past trips, my wife didn't want to lug around the Nikon so we bought a little point-and-shoot that could handle both still photos as well as video. We settled on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 (affiliate link). As soon as I got my hands on it, the D70 became an afterthought. Months went by before I picked it back up and started shooting with it and I scoffed at it's bulk and it's awkwardness. We didn't hang out as much, I started favoring my new, more portable, HD-shooting pal.

Time heals all wounds
As years went by, I realized I couldn't completely ignore my rapid-fire friend. As our family grew, he'd show up to help capture the beginnings of life, anniversaries, holidays, and more.

It wasn't until meeting some great people on Twitter that I've taken a renewed interest in shooting with the D70. Seeing stunning shots like this, this, and this have made me reach for my trusty Nikon more often than the point-and-shoot. In fact, we took it camping this past weekend. The Panasonic stayed home.

I'd forgotten how many photos I'd shot at car shows over the past few years...

More muscle car iPad wallpaper images

After recently skimming through some of my iPhoto albums from 2003, I came across some photos that I'd made at a local car show. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but during another session of Mower Meditation, I came up with a use for those photos. A majority of the photos that I'd taken at this car show were more abstract and detail-oriented in nature, so I had a feeling that they'd make for some interesting iPad wallpaper.

Taking another look at my library, I found more abstract, "artsy" photos that I'm not displaying publicly so this is shaping up to be an ongoing feature for my site. I'm also working on iPhone and other mobile wallpaper images as well, so stay tuned!