Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Bill Pevlor
Dear Pops – How To Buy a Camera
Buying a camera can be difficult. There are a lot of sellers, brands, models, features and price points.
Here’s a question from a Facebook friend…
Dear Pops,
I want to pick up a pocket camera. What kind do you recommend? I have an SLR digital camera already. I just want this for carrying along with me.
Julie
It would be hard for me to recommend a particular brand and model out of the hundreds of cameras available. People have varying wants, needs and budgets. What I can do, is tell you how I would go about choosing and buying a camera for myself.
The first thing I would do is take my time. Unless you have to buy a camera for some event tomorrow, give yourself some time to research and shop. The camera you buy will likely be with your for, at least, a couple of years. The right choice will yield great photos and lasting memories. The wrong choice will only frustrate you and end up on a shelf in the back of a closet.
If I were looking for a new camera, I’d start shopping around. Visit a few stores, watch the sale flyers, browse your favorite online retailers. Get an idea for whats out there.
While you’re shopping, compare common digital camera features and begin to make a list of what you want/need a camera to have.
Important considerations for a digital camera I might buy:
Batteries
Am I going to be buying AAs or AAAs or does it have its own rechargeable battery pack? I prefer the rechargeable battery pack. I’d also like to know how long the batteries it uses will last before having to be replaced/recharged. Manufacturers sometimes rate battery life by the number of pictures you should get on a fresh battery. I’d reduce their estimate by a third.
Lens
On an inexpensive, point-and-shoot camera, you’re not going to get a high quality lens, but you still want as good as you can get. Every image has to pass through that lens to get to the camera’s sensor. You also need to decide if zoom is important to you. When shopping for zoom, only give consideration to “optical zoom.” “Digital Zoom” is a marketing gimmick and virtually useless to a photographer. Digital zoom simply crops the image; something better done with your photo editing software.
Memory
I prefer a camera that uses SD cards because my computer accepts them. Other types of memory media are fine, as long as its compatible with the card reader you will use to download images. Many cameras don’t need a card reader; you simply plug in a USB cord to download the images to your computer. When you buy the camera, be sure to buy enough memory for the number of photos you might take in a single outing.
Brand
I would be looking for a major brand-name camera. There are plenty no-name cameras that entice you with a long list of features at low prices. They rarely deliver on the promises boldly printed on the package. Pick a camera from a company with a reputation for good cameras. Of course, you could always gamble and maybe you’ll get lucky…or not.
Reviews
After you’ve done your research and found a camera that offers the features you want at a price you’re willing to pay, look for detailed reviews. There are people who know a lot more about cameras than I do – with the expertise and tools to uncover the good, bad and ugly of any digital camera. Before I’d buy any camera, I would look at the reviews offered by independent experts. I’m not interested in reviews that simply serve up the manufacturer’s marketing materials. I want unbiased, detailed testing and review. Three sites I like are www.dpreview.com, www.imaging-resource.com, and www.digitalcamerareview.com. (There are plenty of others on the web.) Go to these sites and type a camera brand and model into the search box, and you’ll likely get a full review, complete with image samples. You can also look for cameras they recommend in the price range your interested in. When trying to choose between a couple of different models, these sites can help you compare them side-by-side.
Owner Ratings
My final step is to look at what actual users are saying about the camera. I like going to Amazon.com because of their Customer Reviews. I’ll look at the ratings and some of the experiences customers share. You can learn quite a bit from someone else’s hands-on, real-world experience.
If I were in the market for a new camera, that’s the approach I’d take. In fact, when I was ready to upgrade from my 5-year-old Kodak a few months ago, I went through this process. I hadn’t been in the camera market for 5 years, so I had to educate myself. I looked at a number of cameras and narrowed it down to three – a Canon, a Nikon and a Sony. There’s no way I could have made the best choice just by browsing the electronics department of a discount store for a good price. On a store shelf, they all look good; they’re all on sale. The Sony I bought (and love) wasn’t even available at the local retail outlets I shopped.
If you have some camera buying tips or suggestions for Julie, feel free to comment below.
Happy shopping!
Pops Quick Tip – Take More Shots
With a digital camera, you can take as many pictures as your camera’s memory card can hold. That’s the beauty of digital photography. Once you own the equipment, it doesn’t cost anymore to take a dozen pictures than it does to take one. So, take advantage of the creative equity stored in your camera and take a lot of shots.
Another great advantage of digital photography is the instant feedback of an LCD screen. With traditional film, you wouldn’t know what you had until you used up the roll, sent it to be developed and picked up your packet of prints – a process that could take weeks or months. Now, with the click of a shutter, you can see the image you shot…kinda. That 2 or 3 inch screen can be deceptive. What looks pretty good on your camera’s screen, might be a mess on your computer screen. Another shot or two of the same subject increases the likelihood of capturing the image you really want.
When I can, I try to take several shots (and sometimes a great deal more) of each photo I’m after. Taking more pictures gives me the opportunity to vary settings and try different techniques. With people, eyes blink and the nuance of expression morphs continually. The more pictures I take, the more I have to select from and the greater my chances of getting an extraordinary final product.
Honestly, I’m not as good a photographer as some people might think. A great photographer could take a few shots and most of them would impress you. On the other hand, I can take a couple of hundred and only produce a few I feel are worth keeping. As I become more familiar with my camera and develop my knowledge and skill, my ratio of keepers will increase.
I’m not suggesting you simply fire off hundreds of shots like a 9-year-old with a submachine gun, thinking the spray of bullets is bound to hit something…eventually. Be a thinking photographer. Think of a different approach, a unique angle, experiment with depth of field, play with the fill flash, vary exposure, fiddle with filters, etc.
One of my favorite quotes, attibuted to a number of people – from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Goldwin – is, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
We can apply that same concept to the art of digital photography: The more photos we take, the more masterpieces we’ll find.
White Bench on a Winter Beach
Last Saturday I stopped at Crescent Beach in Algoma, WI and snapped this image. Beyond the fence and out of view is the open water of Lake Michigan.
I took several shots – with the sun shining brightly and with the sun behind the clouds. I preferred the bright sun (as seen here) to emphasize the contrast of the shadows on the snow.
After downloading to my computer, I added the sepia tone in Photoshop.
Spring’s First
Miserable weather this week – beginning with snow, blustery winds and bitter cold – have me thinking of spring.
Instead of posting the photo of a snow scene snapped last Saturday, I thought something a little more optimistic would be a better choice today.
These are some early blooming wildflowers I captured on a hike through the woods of a state park near Sturgeon Bay, WI.
The simplicity and the colors of this image make it one of my favorites.
Pops Quick Tip – Keep Your Camera Close
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt like kicking myself when I missed a great shot because I didn’t have my camera with me. (Sorry, that cell phone camera doesn’t cut it.)
Life and light are happening all around you. If you keep your camera close you’ll be ready when you stumble along breathtaking beauty…when artistic inspiration grips you…when the unusual, never-to-be-repeated event occurs.
I’m making a concerted effort to keep my camera with me. I haul it around, along with a variety of other basic gear, in a good case. Many days I carry it around and never take it out of the case; but I’ve got it should I need it. (Lately, my greatest challenge is pausing from the rat race long enough to snap a few frames.)
The number of interesting images that populate my camera’s memory card tends to have a direct correlation to the amount of time I spend with my camera. Great photo ops are popping up all the time – you might as well capture them.
Keep your camera close!
Between a Rock and a Calm Place
This is an early morning edition of the pier light that marks the harbor entrance at Algoma, WI.
If you follow this blog, you’ll notice it’s one of my favorite subjects.
Cloud Bank Background
When I take photos, I usually take a lot. Then I load them on to my computer and pick out one or two that I like and share them. All the other images from that day are still on my computer. When things are slow – photography wise – I’ll look through some of those photos I passed on the first time around and see if there’s something worth bringing out.
The original image without an effect.
This photograph is one taken in 2009 using my old Kodak EasyShare DX7590. It is the Kewaunee Lighthouse. The lighthouse is actually a supporting actor. I think the clouds are the real star and makes this image a keeper for me. The flock of birds provide a nice accent.
As I often do with photos that don’t quite dazzle me on their own, I added a digital effect to this one using a Photoshop filter.
Feel free to leave a comment.
Fire Painted In the Sky
I’m always watching the sky. Here, in northeast Wisconsin, we seem to have the coolest sunrises and sunsets. This prime example dates back a few years; back to March of ’07.
My wife and I had just settled in on the sofa to watch a DVD when I noticed some color in the sky out my living room window. I had to pause the video and run outside with my camera to fill a few frames with this beauty. I remember being very excited about what I was seeing and hoping, beyond hope, that the camera would capture the shear glory of it. As you can see, I think my old Kodak Easyshare DX7590 did an exceptional job.
About being left on the sofa in “pause” mode, my wife simply said, “I kinda thought this was going to happen.” She knows me well.
Bill Pevlor is Pops Digital
Starting the new year off with a new blog site for my photography. Welcome to PopsDigital.com.
I’m looking forward to the images 2011 will yield. I’ve recently stepped up my digital photography game with a new camera – the Sony SLT-A55. It’s going to take awhile to really be able to harness all the capabilities and features of this camera. I’m still researching and adding new accessories. I have my eye on a new high quality printer. (My mind says, “Yes, yes!,” my wallet says, “Not now, you fool.”) Nothing like new equipment to get your creative juices flowing.
Like all websites, this is a work in progress. I was intent on getting something up and running on January 1st. Obviously, there are more images to add, more tools to implement, more entries to post, but everyone has to start somewhere. If I waited until I had it exactly as I’d like it, it would never be ready.
I hope you’ll check back on a regular basis. You could also subscribe to the RSS feed or friend me on Facebook.
This first photo posted is a digitally-altered, self portrait. That’s me, Bill Pevlor, aka Pops Digital.