Taking Pictures...

Those who read this site regularly or know me in person will already know that a passion in my life is taking pictures. Even as a child, I was fascinated by cameras and pictures and this carried into my adult life. I feel absolutely lost without my camera.

I wrote a couple days ago about the fact my digital camera was stolen from my purse in a hidden location at work. This put me into a world of pissed-off that I had never believed existed.

This is the camera that was stolen:



It was a 5.0 Mega Pixel, 4x optical zoom, Carl Zeiss lens, Sony camera. I bought it in June of 2003 and it rarely left my side. That camera made it through a trip to Vegas with DM and a trip to Portugal with DM to see Johnny. I recently used it on our way to and from Tomah to meet Mark. I've taken pictures of Taco, Chip, et al on that camera. As odd as it sounds, I felt like that camera was a part of me. Maybe it's just because it was what I used to create images to help my memories. That camera gave me some of the best pictures I could have imagined taking.

Still fuming over the fact someone stole it (this is another issue in itself), I decided that I needed something to cheer me up and I wanted something to take pictures this weekend, the weekend of our countries independence. For once, I am not working on the 4th of July and can go to a party and see fireworks. I want a camera.

So I bought this yesterday:



It is a Sony, Cyber-Shot 7.2 Mega Pixel camera with 3x optical zoom and the Carl Zeiss lens. I do not have as much zoom on this one, but the mega pixels are higher and the pictures are even clearer if blown up. The two spare batteries from my old camera are still useless (this one takes AAs), but the memory cards are compatible. It still infuriates me that not only did the person get the camera, but they also took a 512 MB memory card that was inside it.

This new camera is a little bit slimmer and has more options on the actual dial, less hassle to switch to twilight photography mode. It is a little faster than the former camera, so this is a plus. I guess I just needed something to make me feel a little better about the loss.

I took a few pictures yesterday, just to try out my camera. Here's a sample of them:


Char and I figure this is what she would look like if she was pregnant with an alien baby and wearing Tom's work shirt.


Yesterday was a beautiful day in Minnesota and here's a cloud.


The alien baby.