Although I am 100% blind, I love taking photos. They can include everything from family and friends, to pets, to the ocasional girls’ night out at one of our favorite karaoke spots! I don’t do too badly with a camera either, and have come a long way from chopping off body parts in photographs, to finally being able to take several very well-focused pictures of any number of people, places, or things.

In 2009, an aunt of mine in Florida gave me a digital camera for Christmas. I’d been asking for one, and even though several of my other family members laughed at the idea of me owning much less using a camera successfully, my aunt didn’t tell me I couldn’t have one. My first camera was a Nikon COOLPIX L19, and it served me well and faithfully for the past 3 years. Unfortunately, however, this past September, the battery compartment refused to stay closed, and even when I could manage to keep it closed long enough to take a picture, the picture would generally come out looking pretty awful. I contacted the company, and as is the case with such things, I was informed I could not have my camera repaired or serviced. I was told the camera was too old and outdated, and they simply didn’t service this particular model any longer.

I started looking at cameras online from the Nikon store and found one that was a perfect replacement for mine, now no longer usable. I chose the camera I wanted, a COOLPIX L810 again from Nikon, and looked at the price. I knew I couldn’t afford it now, but hopefully I would get it for Christmas with any money I could manage to save up between 11/01 and 12/25. For the past few weeks I had been checking the Nikon store online to see if there were any deals, promotions, or other offers going on. I finally saw the camera I wanted listed for $80 below the suggested retail price. I still knew I’d have to wait till after the holidays though to get it, and at first I was a little disappointed. I wanted a good camera to take photos and videos of holiday gatherings I’d be going to, Christmas Eve morning with my father’s side of the family, and Christmas Day with my brother and mother’s side of our family.

I have an iPhone and use it very successfuly with the help of Voice Over, technology created by Apple for blind/visually impaired persons to use iPods, iPads, and iPhones. I loved my iPhone, but using the camera killed my battery extremely fast. I decided to be extremely thankful and give love for the fact that I had one usable option to get me through the holidays until I could get the camera I wanted. And it paid off in a very big way! Late in the morning of 11/29, I got a phone call from a family member asking me if I was doing anything that afternoon, and if I wasn’t, would I want to go Christmas shopping for anything I wanted this holiday season. Of course I said yes! We went to one of the Nikon dealers in my town, and the camera I’d been wanting was in stock, still marked down from the suggested retail price to the price I’d seen online, and I got the one gift I’d wanted so badly this season!