My New Olympus XA 35mm Camera

I asked Henry about Santa Barbara camera stores--where would I find the best price for an Olympus XA? "Why, right here," he said. He had one he wasn't using, so I bought it for $85 (store price was $120).

It's an amazing little camera and I took thousands of pictures with it until it was stolen in 1990.

I went into downtown Santa Barbara and encountered Jerry Dunn after I came out of the camera store with a roll of Ilford XP-1, the black & white film Henry recommended.

So my first photo was of Jerry Dunn.

And then Jerry took a picture of me.

At Jerry's house I took a picture his wife Merry on the couch.

I went to Linda's apartment. She was thrilled by my new acquisition. I took a picture of Linda on her couch.

I immediately documented my home environment:

Colin at his home-office desk

The trusty old IBM Correcting Selectric typewriter.

Colin's living room

Self portrait