Tuesday 25 February

Just before our annual February half term trip to Lyme Regis, my camera lens broke. Again. The first time was about a month ago and it was my own fault - the camera was in my bike bag, which fell on the floor. Fortunately it was easily fixed - one call to Nikon HQ and a day later a new component arrived in a jiffy bag. An hour with teeny tiny screwdrivers, two pairs of hands and a magnifying glass and I was good to go, only to find a couple of weeks later that the lens refused to zoom in and there was something rattling inside. B. took it apart but had no idea how to fix it and in the process managed to break an electronic connection. This was the weekend before our trip away and I knew it couldn't be fixed beforehand. I had several offers of help - someone offered to lend me another lens, someone else even wanted to lend me their camera as they have the same model. In the end my dad brought over his Canon DSLR which has a better lens than mine.

B. bought me my DSLR 2 years ago. At first I was completely overwhelmed by everything it could do and truth be told, I didn't think I could ever do it justice. But by following a few courses and workshops and experimenting more and more, I got to know my camera better and I feel my photos have improved too. I drag my camera with me everywhere and very much enjoy taking photos.

Using dad's Canon showed me just how much I have learnt over the last two years. I didn't want to use the Automatic setting, I wanted to play with the settings - but the camera didn't like what I was doing and I didn't like my photos. The buttons and dials were all in the wrong place and trying to find certain settings was like navigating a very complicated maze.

I think I've turned into a Nikon girl through and through!

Having said all that, I still ended up with a nice selection of photos which to me reflect the holiday well. The camera lens is on its way to the repairer and I'm hoping to have my own camera back very soon - because I really, really miss it.