Nikon has been giving away free cameras… and you missed out.

Actually, we missed out too and so did everyone who doesn’t live in Georgetown, South Carolina. Nikon passed out 200 of its D40s to the town’s residents in order to prove that absolutely anyone can take beautiful images with a quality camera.

You can see the results at the website: www.stunningnikon.com/picturetown/. It’s a fascinating browse, filled with interesting people, great stories and eye-catching images.

But is Nikon’s thesis — that “anyone can start taking amazing digital pictures the moment you hand them the compact, easy-to-use Nikon D40” — true?

Well, yes… and thankfully for professionals, no.

There are some good photos at Picturetown. They’re likely to be better images than the person who took them could have made using a Cybershot or their mobile phone. But those images aren’t the ones that draw your eye on the site. The photos that really stand out are the portraits of the photographers.

The expressions are revealing, the compositions are creatively put together and each picture tells a story.

If you really want to see what the Nikon D40 can do in the hands of a talented photographer, skip past the Picturetown Gallery and take a look at the portraits on Meet The People Of Picturetown.

Nikon might be right to say that anyone can take an amazing picture with a good camera. But the site proves that it still takes talent to create a professional quality image.