My Camera Died

I was in the middle of a photo shoot in a village that had something picturesque to photograph on every street… a photographer’s dream come true. Annapolis Royal has a long history. It is one of the oldest European settlements in North America, having been founded by a small group of French explorers fifteen years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. This village of 550 people somehow managed to escape “progress” and “growth.” The streets are lined with well preserved Victorian houses built for sea captains during the heyday of sailing ships and the shipbuilding industry. I asked a local storeowner how they managed to save all the historic houses and buildings from the wrecking ball. He said, “Poverty is the friend of history.” Well said. We later learned that Annapolis Royal was selected “The World’s Most Livable Small Community” (population 20,000 and under category) in 2004 in international competition endorsed by the United Nations. Like I said, a photographer’s dream. That was when my camera died. One minute I was framing and clicking street scenes, and the next minute I was holding a lifeless piece of electronics in my hand… nothing worked. We took the battery out; put it back in; next the memory chip; we pressed buttons, dials… nothing. We continued along Saint George Street, looking at gorgeous houses, each one more beautiful than the last. We visited the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens and Acadian House. The images are etched in my memory, but without the use of my camera I felt like part of my anatomy had been amputated. What to do? Repair or a new camera was in order.

Today is Friday… of Canada’s long Thanksgiving weekend… something had to be done today or I would be without a camera until at least Tuesday. Unthinkable. Bob went on line and located a camera shop in nearby Digby, and a couple of stores in Halifax, a two-hour drive away. We went to the little town of Digby first, and while they tried to be helpful, checking the batteries, etc., it was obviously beyond their expertise. One suggestion was for me to buy a Kodak disposable camera! “You can get very good pictures with one,” they said. Sure. But they also gave us the name and address of a camera repair shop in Halifax. Off we went, first fortifying ourselves with some Tim Horton’s coffee.

David Orrell at the Camera Repair Centre Ltd. on Hunter Street was a real find. He is the authorized service centre for Canon and Pentax, but he took the time to do a diagnostic assessment of my Nikon (at no charge)… and the prognosis was not good. There was nothing that could be readily seen or remedied. “Probably something electronic. Will have to be sent to a Nikon authorized repair center and that will take time,” which led to the discussion of who sells Nikon cameras in Halifax. David made suggestions about which Nikon cameras would be a good choice, and then got on the phone and called the stores to see what they had in stock. With two customers waiting, he wrote down the address and gave Bob directions on how to get to the Carsand-Mosher Photographic Store in the Bayers Lake Shopping Centre.

At Carsand-Mosher, the manager Andrew Lloy did a thorough diagnostic assessment of my camera with the same outcome - no hope - he helped sort out the camera choices, downloaded the images from my now unusable memory card onto a disc, and filled out an equipment repair order for my old camera with the notation, “Will not power up.” So my Nikon D100 is off to Toronto for surgery, and a new Nikon D80 sits next to me at the ready. It is smaller, and even better than my old one. And we have met a lot of good people along the way.