Camera Geeks UNITE

Camera Geeks UNITE - or SOUND OFF - be proud of who you are!

So....we are a bit of a geeky camera family. That is what happens when two folks who were - either year book photographer, took zillion of photo electives in high school instead of calculus, worked in a photo studio - meet and marry and then have a large family! Try to parse that SENTENCE!!!!!

We refused to buy a digital camera because *we* could tell the difference between real photos and digital photos. We LIKED the ability of change "things" on our SLR cameras (Nikons and Cannons). However, in 2004 we switched to digital. We got a HP with a 12x optical zoom lens...we were happy but the lag time and such drove us nutty.

We then bought THIS camera. We love it. All our Nikon lenses will work on it, there is simply NO comparison between the point and click lenses and these lenses, there is NO lag time, the focus is quick - really it's like taking photos with a Nikon SLR. The cons: it is clunky, it is expensive and Mike worries about me lugging it to the pool, park, up a mountain etc., it is expensive.

Mike did NOT want to take it when he deployed. He bought this one. Office Depot allowed us to bring it back if sand ruined it. That's a good selling point. The girls each have one of these - they were on sale and we wanted them to SEND US PHOTOS! ::snort:: Everyone thought the photos on it were fine. Mike got home and brought it home so that I could have it in my purse. I imagined it would be much easier to take photos of my meals at a restaurant like some of you do (you KNOW who you are!) with THIS camera rather than the camera above. The pros: it's small, it has video, it's small. The cons: there is a noticeable second (maybe less) to focus, there is a noticeable lag time between when you click and when it takes the photo (maybe a second).

Our thought was that I'd use the small camera for every day. It would be fine to have in my purse and catch daily shots....saving the Nikon for those shots of glaciers, grizzlies, and water lilies. Then I noted at Cy's graduation that my photos were much more natural, well-lit, closer than some others I saw with smaller cameras.

I'm a nut. I know that. I took photos with both cameras today. Same times, lighting etc. Every photo I took - I took twice. You think YOUR kids say, "ah mom" when you grab a camera. I think there is a difference in the quality of photos. What do you all think? Am I just psychotic?

Cy and Mike checking out the car - with point and click

Cy and Mike checking out the car with Nikon

Josiah finished Jamin's book - called him in and said, "the great thing about reading this book is that I can punch the author for the ending!" ::snort:: with the point and click

Punching the author with the Nikon

I'll spare you more photos....this is representative. Is it just me? The Nikon seems to have truer colors. Also in punching 1 - they had to stay still and hold the pose....in punching 2 it was a real punch that I got in process. ::snort::
Now I'm not sure what to do...because though I love having a camera in my purse....I really want ALL my photos to be true to life. I want them all to be sharply focused and such....but maybe I can take both with me...and when I'm too lazy to pull out the Nikon I can whip out the Vivitar. Or I can whip out the Nikon with one hand for still shots and the Vivitar with the other for videos. What to do?????

Book Review: *Saving the Fragments...

*Saving the Fragments by Isabella Leitener and Irving A. leitner*

This is the sequel to *Fragments of Isabella: A Memoir of Auschwitz* by the same authors. You can read that review here. Isabella is also the author a children's book we used this year in school: The Big Lie. I really do recommend the Big Lie for elementary students who are studying the ww2 time period. It is also one of the few remaining books from my Spring Reading Thing List.

In this book we travel with Isabella, Rachel and Chicha from the moment of their escape while on a death march to Bergen-Belsen until they arrive in New York and are reunited with their father.

I had never thought much of the unrest of the time. I'd never thought of the long road ahead for survivors who had no homes, family, and such left. I guess in most of the books I've read those months of searching for family, for a future were glossed over.

I found parts of this book to be bleak. I kept wishing that Isabella would meet Corrie ten Boom, or really the Jesus of Scripture. The book filled me with awe at the strength of the human character and yet with despair at how truly terrible humans can be. These girls went from the terrors of Dr. Mengele to the trial of attempted rape by liberating soldiers.

Book Review: *Morality For Beautiful Girls*

by Alexander McCall Smith

This is another of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series set in Botswana. It is also another one of the original books on my Spring Reading Thing List.

Obviously, I find the Yada Yada and the Nursery Crime series to be "funner" reading...but every time I pick up one of these books I find myself really enjoying it by about chapter 3. I guess they start slow for me. LOL

In this book Mma Ramotswe solves more problems...both her own and others. Mma Makutsi shapes up the two apprentices and the business at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, as well as solving her first really big case...finding "the" beauty contestant with morals.

This quote, so appropriate to Africa could also be said of W TX: " She knew that it was the perfect country - all Botswana knew that - but it would be even more perfect if the three hottest months could be cooled down."

Precious Ramotswe has the "perfect" storage place for importnant papers and checks...making me wonder if Mom learned this trick while living in Africa. I'll have to check. ::snort::