Newness

Guess who got a new camera!  

My Beloved gave it to me as an early Christmas present because my old and much-loved camera was doing crazy things, like shooting three or five shots in a row when I asked for only one, and refusing to turn off the flash.

My friend Sunny, who is a very serious and accomplished photographer, suggested this camera to me. She knows I'm not going to tote around a full set of lenses as she does, so she mentioned this one as being basic but good, all-around camera.

It's a Canon G16, still a point-and-shoot but with a little higher quality sensor and a little more sophisticated settings than my beloved Elphs.  We are getting along okay, but I have to admit this camera came with some mysteriously complex software that I'm still learning the ins and outs of. After five years with my Elph, I was very comfortable - it's the newness of things that buffaloes me. I may even have to read the manual - gasp!

Having said that, I really like the pictures this camera can take. It has such good resolution that I could photograph the eyelashes on a gnat, and it keeps the image on the screen for a long period of time so I can check to see if I got the shot.  After five years of shooting food before it gets cold, I'm pretty good at framing quickly, but it's nice to be reassured.

I also am learning the software - this shot was cropped. I removed some background clutter that didn't add to the story. It's nice to have some simple ways to correct when I made a mistake with an otherwise useful photo. I haven't done much of this in the past, relying on my quick framing and some easy lighting tricks, so it's a whole new world out there. Photoshop, it ain't, but it can do some nice tricks, like taking out red-eye and straightening frames.

It's all new. Pretty soon, it will be all good.