I still have images from that period. To be honest, they are not too great; what I needed was more megapixels. That is not true, as I learned later as my knowledge of the format grew. Therefore in 2000, I upgraded to the Olympus C3030z. Technology was moving fast, and now I had upgraded from 1.14 to 3.34 megapixels, just in time for our trip to Orlando, Florida.

So about that flaw in the plan. We came back from Florida with 1,608 images from the break. Janis & I sat in front of the computer and went through them, and Janis asked “so how do we get the pictures developed?”; “Pardon” (or words to that effect), was my reply; “Developed so that we can put them in an album”. So a new printer was ordered, along with the photo paper (remember the 6” x 4” stock cards to recreate the ‘true’ photo experience). I was now manacled to the never-ending expense of inkjet cartridges. Oh dear, where had it gone wrong?

The negatives aside, the camera proved to be a gem. My trusty little Olympus then recorded our trip through New England in the autumn of 2001, just a month after the horrific attacks of September 11th, and at a time when America was dealing with the shock of that atrocity.

It also recorded our trip to the West Coast of the USA in 2002, as we visited San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, Grand Canyon & Las Vegas. A fantastic trip, and 1,303 images were captured, but “times they were a-changin’”. The return to an SLR was on the cards.