the new camera

A while back, I mentioned that I needed a replacement camera.

My dad did arrange for an awesome camera, after discussion with a few other photographers. It's a Panasonic LUMIX with an 60X optical zoom. I had asked for something reasonably light, with good optics and a big zoom. So I decided to test it out on objects close and far. This is a penny, with no zoom:

And here's a scarf, no zoom:

Once I secured the scarf, I treked back across a snowy field (unfortunately, the snow was much deeper than I'd expected) and took this picture:

The scarf is attached to the low tree just to the left of the post, pretty much dead center in the front of the treeline. Can't see it? Here's the zoomed in photo from the same spot:

I believe in using a dedicated camera, not a smartphone, for taking pictures for a couple reasons. First, a digital camera is ergonomically designed for taking pictures, so you don't have to worry about poking a screen to take a picture. Second, you generally have more options for taking good pictures (like a super optical zoom!). Third, there's no possibility of getting embedded location or other info, so I can put my pictures on the web without revealing anything other than the time the picture was taken.

I admit that my photography skills are not as developed as they could be. These pictures were all taken on "automatic" settings. I'll have to fiddle around with semi-automatic settings to see how things turn out with different shutter speeds etc. I can't wait until it warms up enough that I can take outdoor pictures without standing knee deep in snow...