My equipment is no fancier than A) my older-model iPhone (a 5c, not even the 5s, which apparently had a better camera) and B) my Kodak Easyshare Z915 Digital Camera, which is no longer supported by the company and which I got on sale for $100 through Amazon about six years ago.

Despite the mediocre technology, I love taking pictures! One of these days I’ll feel flush enough to spring for better gear. Meanwhile, I’m going to make do and start setting myself up with “assignments”—sort of my own personal photography school 🙂 —and just see what I can learn . . . about the cameras I have and about taking better photographs, period.

So here is a photo from my first (self-imposed) assignment, “Texture.” It’s the bark of a honey locust tree on State Street in downtown Milwaukee, taken with my iPhone 5c.