How to Convince Your Husband That an Expensive New Camera is a Good Buy

First, you try to convince him that a new Pleasure-Way Class B+ Motorhome would be the ideal addition to the family.

The little beauty pictured above lives not far from us, and we pass it on our way to visit Doug's brother. As we drove by there on Memorial Day, I snapped the above picture. From that, I could see the brand name; so I went to their Web site and looked at all the great features included in it. Doug even seemed mildly interested when I showed it to him. But he was a little taken aback when I told him the price was in excess of a hundred thousand dollars.

He knew that my Canon PowerShot SX20 had begun having problems when we were in the Smokies last month. Last week, when we were shopping at Sam's Club, we walked by a display of Canon digital SLR camera bundles that were on sale. He asked me why I didn't buy one of those. Trying to cover my astonishment, I told him I hadn't researched those particular cameras yet.

But I remedied that when I got home. I went on the internet and checked user reviews and expert reviews and prices being asked by other sellers. Over the next few days, Doug saw me looking at cameras every time he passed through the computer room, so I'm sure he wasn't surprised when I asked if he was really willing to let me spend that much money on a camera.

I believe that the reason he readily said "yes" was that he figured the new camera would distract me from the motorhome. After all, by comparison with the price of the RV, the camera was a bargain. Whatever the reason, I wasted no time getting out to Sam's Club to bring home my new toy.

Canon EOS Rebel T3i

The little darling came bundled with a gadget bag, a second lens (55mm-250mm), and a memory card.

You'll soon be seeing my first experimental shots here on the blog. I confess that, right now, I'm having doubts as to whether I've made the right choice. My first images are less than stunning. The learning curve is going to be much greater than I had anticipated. And I'm not sure I have the talent to warrant this kind of expenditure. But I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Cameras...Joys and Frustrations

Here are a few photographs taken with the Canon PowerShot SX50 HS that I so joyfully received last week.

The shot of the robin was taken through our tinted and none-too-clean patio door glass (unedited).

Black squirrel playing hide and seek with me (unedited).

Zoomed in a little closer on the shy guy (unedited)

Our Forsythia are blooming! (Unedited, except for cropping)

Eagles' Nest. Some zoom used.

A little more zoom shows the wrong end of an adult eagle in the nest.

A small portion of a heron rookery. This one has been brightened a little and cropped.

It was the wrong time of day for photographing the heron rookery. Most nests were occupied, but the lighting and distance made it very difficult to see the occupants. The nests are very far away. My former SX20 wouldn't have been able to show this much detail, even if the sun had been in the right position.

All in all, after only two days of shooting with my new camera, I was highly pleased with the quality of the photographs. But...and this is a big "but" for me...I found the viewfinder to be almost useless. On Sunday, a bald eagle was soaring overhead, well within reach of the SX50's capabilities; but I couldn't find it at all in the viewfinder. Frustrated, I handed the camera to Doug to see if he could do any better, but he had the same problem.

Since I'm a viewfinder kind of gal and since holding the camera against the face is almost a requirement at full zoom in order to reduce camera shake, I knew I'd find that limitation very frustrating in the long run. So, as much as it hurt me to return the camera, that's exactly what I did.

As you know, I'd already sold my SX20 to my friend, Pat. So I had to find another camera. I read reviews and considered different options and decided to play it safe and get another SX20. These are no longer available new, so I went to eBay, where I found what appears to be a gently used one for a decent price. It should be here by the end of the week.

When I told Pat about it, she said she would be glad to trade with me, returning my old camera to me and accepting the one I found on eBay in its place. Bless her heart.

So my SX20 is coming home. It has served me well in the past, and I expect it will continue to serve me well in the future...until Canon comes out with a new model that corrects the viewfinder issue. But, next time, I won't sell my SX20 until I've had time to try out the new one.

Like Chicken?

When I was going through my archived photos recently, I came across this set of images of a few roosters that were roaming around the "Pioneer Village" at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, near Cherokee, North Carolina.

These were shot in November, 2008, with my Kodak Z612 point and shoot camera. I found the colors on these birds most beautiful.

Isn't that tail gorgeous?

And this one had attitude.

My new Canon Powershot SX50 has arrived, but I haven't had much time to play around with it. I hope to be sharing some photos here real soon, though.



Changing Cameras

When I got my Canon Powershot SX20 IS in August of 2010, just before I started this blog, I thought (and Doug hoped) that it would be the last camera I'd ever need. It's an advanced point and shoot model, with lots of features and an amazing zoom, with a focal range from 28 mm to 560 mm.

But wouldn't you know...Canon wasn't going to let me remain satisfied too long. I resisted the models they introduced over the next couple of years. But then they came out with the Canon Powershot SX50 HS, with even more features and a focal range of 24 mm to 1200 mm. Now how was I supposed to resist that?

So...I have sold my SX20 to my good friend, Pat, and have ordered the SX50 from BH Photo.

Saying "goodbye" to my faithful SX20, prompted me to go back through my archives and pull a representative sampling of images it has produced...in a sort of farewell tribute post.



This hawk was drying its wings after a rain shower in Yellowstone National Park 10/04/2010.

Pronghorn Antelope somewhere in Wyoming 10/05/2010

Robin in our Backyard 04/14/11

Baltimore Oriole outside the window at Doug's step-mom's house 05/06/2011

Blackbird in our backyard 05/11/2011

Amish girl and draft horses 06/01/11

My favorite pizza. This was our 24th anniversary dinner 08/15/2011.

A very patient dragonfly, posing for several photos 08/16/2011

Chipmunk at Bryce Canyon, Utah 09/25/2011

Coyote at Yosemite National Park, California 10/05/2011

Sunset at Fred Howard Beach, Florida 02/06/2012

Black Bears along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park 04/15/2012

Belted Kingfisher at Ouabache State Park, Indiana 06/16/2012

Bull Moose near Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 09/23/2012

Robin on our lamppost 04/12/2013. The last photo taken before the SX20 went to its new owner.