In the ’60s and ’70s I was a fairly serious although amateur photographer. Then, for nearly three decades, I just stopped. I was going to write “I don’t know why” but the dates correspond to the years during which I started and ran a software company. I guess I was just too busy working. During those years, my trusty Nikon F gathered dust and any pictures I took were with the point-and-shoot cameras (film and then digital) I bought for my wife.

But in 2008 we started to prepare for a trip to Kenya, and I got back into it. Santa Claus brought me a Nikon D90, so I had ten months to learn how to use it before the Africa trip. I read all I could about the current crop of lenses and ended up renting a few from BorrowLenses.com, an excellent service. In the six months since returning from Kenya, I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, learning more and more about Lightroom 2 and Photoshop and buying more lenses and other gadgets, new and used. The cost of those lenses now dwarfs what Santa spent for that D90 body, but I really like my current collection:

• Nikkor 18-200m f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR (the upgraded kit lens for the D90)
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF (a great portrait and general-purpose lens, which is like a 75mm on a full-frame camera)
• Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 DC HSM (to cover the wide-angle end of the spectrum)
• Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR Micro (a terrific 1:1 macro lens, also good for portraits)
• Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II (cost a bundle, but an amazing lens)

No longer do I have any excuses for not having great photos. Now I’ve got to learn to live up to the quality of the glass.