Photography

I've been capturing snapshots of places I go to either just traipseing or on vacation since 2006, when I bought my own camera. For years I'd been using hand me downs my parents had provided but I felt I needed a compact one that could do a lot more than the older ones I'd had did.

Something told me that I needed to get one that could handle a variety of shooting modes. I went to Best Buy and bought one, just a few weeks before heading out to our company's annual conference in colorful San Antonio, TX. What better time to put it to the test.

The photos came out much better than they appeared on the screen, and the camera became my constant companion almost everywhere I went.The camera I bought was a Nikon S200 (red), a simple to operate but rather option loaded point and shoot. The only thing I would change would be the speed from snap to shutter, because the slight delay is murder during high-speed snapshot time (such as at a NASCAR race!).

Recently, I was plugging in my camera's charger to an outlet. I've not been kind to my camera charger through these past few years apparently, because the wall plug end exploded in my hand. I had to reset the fuse switch for the kitchen outlets! Apparently, the wires in the charger cord had become pulled with use and with years, and well, there we have it. I must admit I feel like I lost a good friend after a stupid argument!

I grew up with my dad using a serious Nikon with tons of  lenses. The combination of seeing him pondering the lense choice and his constant photographing during our vacations, instilled in me an appreciation for the Nikon brand. After all, they've been around a while and know their stuff.

Still, whenever I spot a particularly good photo on Flickr I try to look for the metadata on what camera was used. I see a various manufacturers have gotten a lot better. Then again, great shots are half due to great subjects and half due to the photographer's talent. ;o)

So now that I can't charge my camera's battery anymore, I've decided it's high time I get a new one. Although it seems a little indulgent to get a new one versus getting a new charger, I think that I can benefit from a faster shutter and a little extra options that come with cameras these days. Ergo an update to my Amazon list ;o) just in time for the holidays! whatdyaknow

Meanwhile, I've again taken up exploring photography basics online. I wish I could take a class, but the pricing and schedules are not coordinating.

I uber quickly researched automotive photography for my Automotive blog, but I want to delve into other aspects. An excellent page I found (Cambridgeincolour.com), explains white balance in photography. I haven't delved into their other tutorials, but my expectations for learning a lot from this site are going up exponentially as I progress through this one post.

Some excellent information sources to get one started with photography are, of course, the users manuals that come with cameras, the camera manufacturer (or other camera manufacturers), a local camera shop, and Google searches.

I'm hoping to get better at both knowing what to search for and applying some of these techniques to my shots. I've begun looking up the camera options and starting there.

A good photographer can make something excellent come out of a poor photographing environment (light, subject, color, etc.) and so I hope to also help compensate for the potential I see and how it is translated to the snapshots I take.

Just for grins and giggles, here's my Flickr. One of my photos of a hot air balloon during the Lisle Eyes to the Skies Festival was acquired by the DuPage Convention and Visitor's Bureau for use in their 2010 tourist guide. I was over the moon!

I know this is kind of a side or tangent hobby, but I hope to keep reading up and gaining a better grasp of technique. This is definitely one of those things that take time, patience, and lots and lots of practice. I hope to get better and better at it.

Deleting Multiple Photos from iPhone

Ever need to delete a bunch of photos (but not all) from your iPhone? Here's a great article from cnet on doing just that, iPhone tip: Select multiple photos to share or to delete.

Backup your Flickr

I became a Pro member of Flickr (translation=paid) because I felt it's the best and more social media friendly online photo repository. It doesn't hurt that I liked people's photos on there better than on Picasa, either.

But it's always tricky for me to decide whether I want to upload ALL the pics from my PC onto there, vs. keeping private ones private and away from the Internet. Er...we all have our reasons...

But then there's the new question: how do you backup Flickr photos in case something happens to your PC or to your Flickr (you decide you don't want something then you do after all and it's too late, etc.). Well apprently there's a few little tools you can leverage at your disposal. An article on 3 Tools to Backup your Flickr at makeuseof.com helps you figure out which option is best for ya.

As for me, I've bought a USB external drive to which I save all my music, movies, and photos on a weekly basis. I am still going to reread the above-mentioned article and see if this is an option I'm willing to try out. I shall enjoy solving the new conundrum of backup choice-making when I get a mac at the very end of this year.