Even when I carry my big camera -- which due to its space-consuming nature precludes me from carrying cute little purses, darnit! -- I often long for a point-and-shoot in order to get decent images with me actually in front of the camera. A recent example:
My husband and I recently enjoyed a great dinner at Candlelight (great spot, for those of you haven't ventured over there yet) to celebrate my birthday. I really wanted to capture a shot of the two of us there but since I only had a fancy schmancy camera to bring, this was what I got when I asked the server if he would please take a picture of us:
Totally sweet. Great effort. But not so good. Ummmm, I'm sorry, could I trouble you to please try again?
Ok, a little better. But still blurry. I smiled, thanked him, and acted like he just took the best picture ever. And then I resorted to balancing my camera on an upside-down martini shaker (borrowed from the bar) and used the self-timer to capture this shot:
Not perfect, but definitely better. But enough is enough. It took waaaaay too long to capture this one image. If I had just had a point-and-shoot with me, I'm pretty sure I would have been more likely to get a decent pic on the first try. Needless to say, I was very excited when I learned that my husband had bought me a point-and-shoot for my birthday!
what great lessons in field-of-view AND depth-of-field! thank you!
ReplyDeletei am very curious as to what p-a-s you got. i am going on a trip soon and i need a new camera and am trying to decide between a couple of models. did you get a canon? i heard they got high marks from consumer reports. the g10, a720 is, a1100 is in particular. Inquiring minds want to know, but i understand if you don't want to play favorites.
thanks, viv! love your work!
Hmmmm ... would this trip be the seven game roadie that I just read about after clicking through to your blog? Sounds like you'll definitely want to upgrade your camera before then.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I shoot Nikon, I went with the Canon line for my P&S. (The Canon P&S's seem to get much better reviews than the Nikons.) I considered several models but eventually settled on the Canon Powershoot SX200 IS. Lots of reasons, but the primary ones that put the SX200 on top (vs. the G10, my other primary candidate) were:
- ability to shoot HD video
- high ISO so I could shoot in low light situations without flash (SX200 goes up to 3200 vs. 1600 for the G10).
If I didn't already have a great camera though, I might have gone with the G10. That gets great reviews.
Let me know if you have any more questions. My camera arrives on Friday so I'll know more and can report back with some firsthand experience after that.
Thanks for the nice compliments on my work, Jesse!