Camera Troubles

I have been without a camera for almost a month. Actually, I think it is exactly a month today that the camera went dark. That is literally what it did-it came on, the LED screen opened with a happy Olympus logo blue screen and than black. So obviously, some part that likely costs $300 (about 10x what the camera is worth-if it is working order) has died leaving me with no comera.

I did venture into a BestBuy to look at SLR cameras and went away with no camera and the decision that a cheapo point and shoot is best for me.



The SLR cameras are expensive, require even more expensive lenses and also require expensive batteries. The Canon Rebel I looked at (I don't remember what model it was, there seem to be 3 or 4 different models) needed a battery that cost almost $100 and it was not rechargeable. The other SLR's needed slightly cheaper (and usually rechargeable) batteries but I would still have to shell out over $50 per battery and I would need at minimum 2 or them as I take a lot of photos and video and go through batteries at a fairly rapid clip.

So after looking at several SLRs I noticed that all of them need an additional macro lens (costly and bulky) if one wants to take rally close up shots of things. Since about 1/3 of all my pictures are of small subjects such as insects, flower parts, tiny mosses and other subjects that scream out to be shot in macro mode AND all point and shoot digital cameras come with a macro lens built right into the camera I decided that the point and shoot digital is my camera of choice.

So I ordered a point and shoot via a website, My Survey , where I have been taking and submitting consumer surveys for many many years (well over a decade) and I have built up tens of thousands of points. So on Nov 1 I ordered a Fugifilm 14 mp Point and shoot camera and in the next 2 to 5 weeks it will be delivered to my door.

In the mean time I am missing a lot of great photo ops but Once I get that camera and figure out how to use it I will get back on that photo horse and ride hard.

Mizuna Bee

It was a beautiful spring day yesterday and while waiting for some compost to be delivered to the bed where we would plant lettuce I saw this 3 banded Italian Honey bee working the flowers on some mizuna that had been over wintered. It took a bit to get a shot, she was quite active trying to find a flower that no one had already visited. At one point I was running down the bed cursing the slowness of the focus on my digital camera but finally i got a few nice pictures and this is one of them.

A Cat Story

Took the cats to the vet this past Monday. We have two cats, Navin and Trina. Navin has been with me for going on 14 years and Trina came into our lives last August right around the time Hurricane KaTrina was making headlines.

Anyhoo Monday afternoon we made sure not to let the cats outside before the appointment, got the trusty cat carriers out of the barn and and loaded Trina and Navin into the crates. The cats immediately made it known they were not at all pleased about this turn of events. Hiss and yowling started and continued all through the 20 minute ride to the vet's. About 3 miles outside of Richmond we smelled what could have been someone's septic system needing a good pumping. We hoped that was what it was but no, the odor lingered all the way into Richmond. When we parked in the Vet office parking lot we discovered the source of the stink. Trina had showed her extreme displeasure over being shoved in a crate and than loaded onto a van and driven to God knows where by leaving a rather large turd in her crate.

We took her on in and figured, okay got a stool sample. The vet's assistant removed the pile for us and ultimately it was not needed.

Soon both cats were well prodded and had received the shots they needed. The vet noticed and inflamed front tooth in Trina's mouth and tried to pull it but it did not want to come out (ouch!). She will have to be watched and taken back in if it gets more inflamed.

With the vet visit done we put the cats back in the crates and got back into the van and drove to wal-Mart to return a battery. I do not like giving my money to Wal-Mart and do so to as small a degree as possible but they have by far the cheapest price on the lithium battery I need for my digital camera. Actually, other than Office Max they are the only place around that carries this kind of battery as far as I know.

The cats were a lot quieter on the drive back home, almost to the point where I was wondering if they were still alive (they were). We get home and I open the crate doors up before removing them from the van and both cats jump out. I was wondering just how pissed off Trina would be with us over all the indignities we had just bestowed upon her and found out as soon as I lifted her crate out of the van. It was covered in urine.

I wash out the crate with the hose and let the cats into the house and all is well until dark. Navin, Trooper than he is has already forgiven us for the vet visit. Trina is on her bed washing the pee from her paws but not wanting any human attention. I am not surprised, she did not take the trip well at all. Around 9pm she asks me to let her out and so I did and that was the last we saw of her for about 36 hours. This worried Eugene to no end. He was getting quit convinced by this morning that she was dead. And i was not so sure this wasn't true though I was not going to throw in the towel until she was gone a full 72 hours
I figured she was majorly pissed at us and was hiding in the barn, likely watching us the whole time. That, or trying to catch mice-she did catch her first mouse ever last Monday. Ate the head off of it too.

But about 10 minutes after Eugene said he was sure she was gone Trina comes walking back all coy yet happy to see us. After a 20 minute petting session she retired to the visco elastic tempur-pedic single bed we inherited.

Figures, that's cats for you.

Dragon Fly

this is an emerging dragon fly taken with the new Olympus camera

All I want for my Birthday is...

My birthday is coming up May 11th and I am getting a new Digital camera Olympus SP-310 7.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom to replace my Olympus Camedia with 1.3 mega pixels. I am very excited about this new camera.

The ironic thing is the 7mp camera costs about the same as my 1.3 mp camera did 5 years ago.

I was thinking I wanted an Canon EOS Rebel digital SLR camera but at $550 to $1200 it was way too much (not to mention getting extra lenses would cost as much as the camera body itself). Than I got to reading about digital SLR Cameras and found out that dust getting between the lens and the camera body is a big issue. And than I got to thinking you know, digital photography is not like film photography at all so why get a camera that was designed for film and converted to use digital technology? Why not get a camera that is made for the digital era. So I did.

Now I just have to get to the Post office when they are open and pick up the camera that Amazon says is waiting for me there. Probably won't happen today as the PO closes at noon and I am not likely to drive into town just to get the thing and than make another trip in later to go do a workshop south of Oxford (which has become a saga unto itself apparently. But it has not affected us much other than moving our presentation up a half hour thus allowing more time for our hoophouse demo which is a good thing)

Thanks for the swell b-day present Dad