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July 12, 2006
A New Expensive Hobby
There's a high likelihood that Dawnise will be taking a trip to S. Africa in September. A friend of ours here in Seattle (Janinne) was born in Cape Town, and invited Dawnise to accompany her on a trip back home.
Dawnise is hesitant (I won't be able to go, mostly because I don't have the vacation time accrued, and also because we have a high-maintenance cat to worry about), but I'm keen that she not skip this experience.
Did I mention that Janinne's brother apparently runs a safari company, and that the trip is planned to include some form of actual African Safari? I mean sheesh, what kind of friend would I be if I let Dawnise skip that?
So, since my eyes can't go, I figured I'd send the next best thing, and bought her a new camera to take. Haven't had time to play with it much, been mostly trying to figure out the right lens or two that she shouldn't leave home without. At the same time, I've been trying to get Dawnise to play with the camera now, before she takes it on a plane, but my forgetting to buy a Compact Flash card for it probably didn't help that effort. She can snap shots of anything she wants, but can't save 'em yet.
Thanks to Jakob, Titus, John, my Dad, and Phil Greenspun I've got all the data I can handle, now I'm working on turning the raw data into information.
Posted by dberger at July 12, 2006 7:09 AM
Comments
Hey - that's brilliant news. The only downside is the long flight - otherwise she is sure to have a life changing experience.
Great camera too - what a nice husband you are!!! I'd advise getting spare battery and CF cards so that she has one fully charged at all times.
I just got back from a month in Germany, with a short side trip to Prague. Saw 13 games of the world cup including the finals which were incredible.
Posted by: Grant at July 12, 2006 3:05 PM
Ohhhhhh, great camera! When I got the camera I have now it was between the Nikon and this Canon.
Yay!
Posted by: Amanda Snyder ![[LiveJournal user info]](http://oubliette.org/~dberger/mt/mt-static/openid-comment/livejournal.gif){kind=small}
at July 12, 2006 7:15 PM
Excellent choice in camera. I've been shooting with a DSLR for almost two years now and refuse to use anything less anymore. The fast response times, vivid colors, and tight controls are wonderful. It's a requirement (IMO) if you have a kid -- I'm the only one that has good pictures of my youngest niece because I could sniper quick shots while she was playing to get a natural smile. I'm sure the speed will be helpful with animals that decide to start running around.
Encourage her to take fast repetitive pictures during action sequences, even if they seem mundane. (e.g., some animal starts trotting away) It'll give you a selection of pictures that are bound to include "the perfect shot" that really reflects the feel of the moment. It's let me get some great shots of Heidi during off-roading trips.
You should also look into the devices that just copy flash drives to hard disks. They have been on the market long enough now that you should have a good pick from ebay. This will let her go for a long day away from a laptop and still stash away pictures if her flash drive fills up. (It could also remove the need to take the laptop altogether.)
-Steve
Posted by: Steve S. at July 15, 2006 2:11 PM