#24 - Camera Questions

I am getting a few questions via blog comments and emails about the kind of camera I use. So, I thought I'd give information about it while showing more shots that I have taken with it. However, to be fair, I must admit that I did study Photography and Advanced Photography at the university level for a year, mostly old-school, dark-room studies. But, these classes did help me to better understand light and shadow, juxtaposing, shift of focus and perspective...in a new way.

Mostly, these classes taught me that ANYONE has the ability to take great pictures, if they have the eye for it. However, others who study photography cannot take a good shot if their life depended on it. Sometimes, my photos are a bomb, not "THE BOMB," but a total bomb of ruins. And, that's okay. I'm not a professional photographer, but I am a photographer by heart. So here are some of my favorites --- all taken with the camera I will reveal.

Dad and daughter taking scuba lessons together in Mexico. Not bad. Mom is taking pictures, as usual. If you see any smeared areas of the picture, it is because my finger smudged the lens or a drop of water is lingering on the lens. On the beach, it is difficult to keep the lens perfectly clean.



Stefie's friend (Kirsten) and I are snorkling as the big-wigs scuba dive.

I thought this was awesome, so sweet. Actually, I took a series of photos from this day, had them blown up by using Snapfish online and they mailed the poster sized photos to me. I framed a few and hung them in my daughter's room as a present to her. It is still incredible to walk into the room and see these vibrant pictures of a very special day we shared in Mexico.

Heading back to the ship. Our ship is the one with the big red tail.



I took pictures of flowers while on our travels and again I had some blown up to poster size for our wall.

My youngest, Stefie, shopping for her friends in Mexico. She liked their prices.

Not every moment can be a perfect-hair moment. And, the cute belly ring, it's gone now, but it was kind of cute even though I nearly had a coronary over her getting it.

At the show, very low light.

One of the head dancers takes Stefie into his arms for a cute pose. This is why you ask yourself...Was his claim to be gay part of his act? Hmmmm.

A little over-exposed, but I could fix this with my editing tools. Lyla is happy to go along for the ride even though Stefie is pouting. Can you see the pout?

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I included these photos so you could see the camera's amazing underwater capability, it's beach/sandy capability and it is also supposed to be good in the snow. It is somewhat shock resistant and can withstand being several feet under water.

If you do go into sea water, you must simply give the camera a good clean water rinsing afterward and keep the lens cleaned very carefully so it won't get scratched. The camera has a movie camera portion that will also film underwater. I have amazing footage of us at the reef and swimming around. However, I can't figure out how to get my videos to load up to blogspot. I've seen people not having to use YouTube and I wonder how they are doing this. The one time I tried, the video played for about 24 hours and then stopped. Maybe someone will have an answer for this old gal who tries to keep up with technology.

Camera Details: Fujifilm Finepix XP --- Water, Shock, Dust, Freeze Proof
Purchased from Target. At the time, I believe it cost around $169.00, but I've seen it with a lower price.
The battery is rechargeable and I LOVE this feature. At night, I pop the battery into the charger and we NEVER have had to buy a battery for our camera. Better yet, it has a long battery life. And, since our truck now has a 110 outlet, we simply bring the charger with us to give the battery a boost, whenever needed.

Of course, this camera has issues that I don't like, but overall, it's been a GREAT camera. In fact, it is the second of its type that I've purchased. As soon as the pixels become more advanced, I try to keep up.

I could be carrying around a much nicer camera, but this Fujifilm camera is extremely hardy and since it is waterproof, that has been a dream for me as a hobby photographer. If the camera gets dirty while mowing our acreage, I simply rinse it off and dry it with a soft cloth.

When we're staying at our acreage, the terrain is quite brutal. With my camera in my pocket, I've fallen into the creek, ended up with layers of dirt all over me - even inside my pockets, I've taken a few tumbles onto hard ground, I've banged up against the sharp edges of our equipment trailer and I've been aiming for a good picture and lost my grip to only watch the camera fall to the hard ground. I'm a mess. Life on our acreage IS a mess. There is nothing cultured nor civilized about it, at least not yet. It's still primitive and wild and it is unyeilding. This environment can be hazardous to your camera, so this is why I've been so impressed with this Fujifilm camera, it's held up. The version I now am using is about two years old. Not bad. It's rather compact. flush and easy to put into your pocket. I like that.

And I head out for my next adventure with Deputy Dave, I will take my little camera and will feel like I am part of the photography team for National Geographic, but it's really just little old me who is enjoying a life of blogging. I'm happy with that.