Saturday, June 23, 2012

Exploring the Neighborhood

A decade after my high school years the 700 some days seem like a blur but I distinctly remember a teacher talking about the amazing future of digital cameras. I was quite skeptical at the time as we had used said cameras in the class and there were several downsides including the fact the they saved images to a floppy disc (look at it and you'd get a corrupt file), they ate through AA batteries at an alarming pace, and if you were lucky enough to have an inkjet printer at home you could print about 3 photos before you had to replace the cartridge. Did I mention the cameras were maybe 2 MP at this point? Of course technology advances, and now the digital camera is standard. I picked up a rather nice one before moving out to California where it lived in my purse so that I could photograph flowers, trees, the occasional small animal, and more often my cats. Despite being dropped, squished, and subjected to the purse perils of keys and crumbs my point & shoot served me well until the day I turned it on, it made terrible crunching sounds and didn't work anymore. The exact same day I was handed a D-SLR to take pictures at my high school's graduation and fell in love. After doing some research I used some amazon gift cards Ben and I got as wedding presents and I invested in a Nikon D5100. And then I took a stroll around the block...


 I had spent the morning charging the camera battery so I got a later start than I would have liked. Noon-time sun has a bit of a harsh quality to it, especially in the summer time, but I liked the effect on the flowers next door. I'm going to keep an eye on this spot because I think the light can make a big difference, but I'm not really quite sure how. 



Then I ran across a really beautiful flower. There was a bit of a breeze out so I was hesitant to use macro mode, but I'm glad I decided to do so even if it meant a little extra time to wait for a lull in the breeze.





The last thing I photographed was a fuzzy little plant. I can't get over how many plants are weird and alien looking out here. Look at all the little fuzzies! I'm always curious about touching them, but considering people grow cactus out here too, it just doesn't seem like a smart idea.



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6 comments:

  1. Whoa, macro mode is scary pretty. Are we going to Garin next week so you can take pictures of the cows?

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    1. Yes it is, and honestly this isn't even a "fancy" lens or a lens specifically for macro images. I'm down with that or the Japanese gardens. I'd also be down with doing a proper cookout if we decide to do it.

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  2. Nice pictures! I rather like the shapes and symmetries of plants (must be connected to that I became a geometer). On all the trips I take to places plain and exotic I invariably come back with photos of trees and flowers

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    1. Thanks Joe! I've seen a fair number of your building/mathy images as well. You mentioned before possible looking into a digital camera?

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    2. We own two digital cameras. It is just that I have never taken the trouble to master how to use either one of them. For taking pictures of flowers my usual objection to the way digital cameras cameras focus would not be an issue.

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    3. The beauty of a point & shoot is that they are pretty powerful for when you want to do fancy things, but generally if you throw it on auto, press the button halfway to focus, and then all the way to take the photo you will probably be fine.

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