Month: April 2011

Brief Camera History

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I’m on my third digital camera now (not counting my wife’s two, or camera phones). Here’s a brief history:

  1. Olympus C-4000 Zoom (2002)
  2. Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom (2006)
  3. Canon T2i/550D (2011)

I got the Olympus C-4000 in 2002 I think. It was a great camera. It took really nice pictures for the time, and I took a lot with it. It died some time in 2005. Suddenly the motor that moved the lens in and out when you turned it on failed. I even tried taking it apart to see if I could fix it, but no luck, it was dead.

I went without one for around a year or so until I picked up the Olympus C-7070 circa 2006. It was also a great camera and still takes really nice pictures, better than most of the newer compact cameras. It has a articulated screen, which was not available on most cameras at the time. It allowed you to use it as sort of a periscope and take cool crowd shots.

Bourbon Street, One week before Katrina

Just a few weeks ago I bought a Canon T2i/550D. After Andrew was born and I realized how many pictures we were taking, I thought upgrading to a new camera might be a good idea. I was taking a lot pictures just with my iPhone 4 because the Canon 1200 we had just wasn’t that much better and the C-7070 was showing it’s age. So I researched the crap out of all the different options; Micro 4/3, Bridge/Super Zooms, DSLRs, Nikon vs. Canon, etc, etc. (Ask Angie!) I finally decided on a refurbished Canon T2i to get the most bang for the buck. I love it! Especially when it’s paired with the 50mm F/1.8 lens I’ve been taking some great photos. It’s really a great camera, but I’m already coveting the upgraded features of the 60D. I’ll stick with the T2i for a while though. Both have the same sensor, so I should be able to get the same shots for the most part.

AndrewJohn Deere Baby!

I’m learning a ton about photography and having a lot of fun taking cool photos. It definitely helps to have the “Cutest Baby in the World” around to take pictures of. 😉

Catching a bullet…

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This past weekend was Easter. I’m hoping we started a new tradition of shooting guns on Easter because it was fun! We shot some clays and messed around with Anthony’s S&W MP9 and Rossi 357. Since I just recently got a new DSLR I’ve been taking a lot of pictures. I had an idea to set it to continuous drive and have Anthony empty the clip as fast as he could and maybe we’d get some cool shots. Well, it turned out awesome. I ended up catching a bullet streaking through the frame. At 1/1000 of a second shutter speed a bullet traveling about 1500 ft/s should move about 1.5 feet, and you can see the streak the bullet left. Too bad it wasn’t still in the frame or it would have been even cooler.

I shot this with my Canon T2i/550D and 50mm F/1.8 lens.

If we do this again, and we probably will, I’m going to try a faster shutter speed to see if I can actually catch the bullet. Maybe I’ll try to borrow a faster lens too, another stop would help.

Workout #2

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Today was my second day on the exercise bike. I started last Thursday when it was delivered. I did the Weight Loss 1 program which is 20 minutes with varying resistance, and I rode about 5 miles. I’m planning to do that every morning I can, until I feel I can move up to the next level. I had to skip Monday and Tuesday because I was sick.

I also decided to start keeping track of my weight, so I can graph it and see the progress. Hopefully it goes in the right direction.

Finding a free theme that doesn’t suck…

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I’m trying to find a free theme that doesn’t suck. I like the darker colors generally. I like all the extra stuff on the right side vs. left or bottom. I’d like to have a custom header I can add an image to. So far I haven’t had much luck. I don’t really want to have to create my own, but maybe I can use it as an excuse to learn all the style sheet stuff I’ve been avoiding.

Starting a blog?

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I decided to start a blog just to try it out. I mostly plan on using it to post high resolution pictures I take to share with friends. For the most part Facebook is still where most of them will end up, but sometimes you get a really cool shot and you need to share a high quality, high resolution version of it.

I’ll probably post some other crap on here too. Once again, I’m on a mission to lose weight and to get healthier. I’m not in a rush and I’m not going to do anything extreme. It’s a long term goal, but I’ll probably post some progress reports from time to time, mostly for my own benefit.

Here’s to blogging!