August 03, 2004

it's all happening at the zoo

Did I mention I got a new camera in June? I did. My longed-for digital Rebel. Which is part of what landed me the Irvine gig. Have equipment, will travel. Camera paid for itself, rather quickly. I love this camera.

Of course, new camera meant new computer. Must have better processor to handle bigger image files. And so it goes. Little fish eats tiny fish and is eaten in turn by bigger fish. Ever bigger, technology moves on, engulfing itself.

At any rate, I've been spending the evening learning RAW conversion and suchlike. And now I'm tired and so no words. Just a couple of images from the zoo. Amazing how much farther a responsive shutter will get you.

meercats wrestling

Meercats. I always thought of them as prairie dogs with a twist in nomenclature. I now see their catness in action.

giraffe tongue

I love giraffe tongues. Prehensile, like tails.

(final image deleted)

Posted by Tamar at August 3, 2004 10:44 PM
Comments

Hi! I've been reading your site for a few months now after I found you through Tiny Coconut's site, and I've really enjoyed it. I've also looked at some of your pics and I'm very impressed! I have wondered and planned to e-mail you and ask you what kind of camera you used. So, it's now the digital Rebel ~ what did you have before? I want a new camera (but I don't want to spend the $$ on the Rebel)...but I want to get good pics of my family. BTW, I have a 6-year-old boy, too, who both my husband and I think bore a physical resemblance (when they were younger)to yours from pics we've seen here. Thanks!

Posted by: Marilou at August 4, 2004 07:52 AM

Thanks! I'm considering starting up my photoblog again soon, actually.

Until I switched in late June, I'd been using an Olympus Camedia 3040, bought in April 2001. I still trust Olympus and Canon cameras the most (good optics), but you can do your own research at Steve's Digicams or Digital Photography Review.

My only other word of advice is this: Consumer-level digital cameras have notoriously slow shutter response times. You press the button and it takes the picture seconds later. When you're trying to take candids of people -- especially kids -- this totally bites. You lose the shot. So I used to half-cock the shutter, press it down halfway. It does a lot of the setting-up work that way and will actually take the picture when you press the shutter down the rest of the way.

Have fun! I love taking pictures. (Is that obvious?)

Posted by: Tamar at August 4, 2004 10:34 PM

"He looks so small."

To me he looks huge, with his legs dangling down like that. I still can't get over the fact that years have passed since I first started reading Visions and Revisions.

Posted by: Kay at August 8, 2004 04:18 AM

Kay, from that perspective, yeah, wow. He's way past toddlerhood now!

Posted by: Tamar at August 9, 2004 03:10 PM