Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all who are reading this! I've got some exciting things to report from the my Wyoming desert, winter expedition but I'll save that for on here shortly in a few days.

As for now I wanted to rave and give a big time shout out about Cannon cameras.

The big thing I got this year was a EOS Rebel TO3, this camera kicks butt! I'm very grateful for this as it's just the thing I've been looking for. I've been scrapping along for years using an old Kodak Easy Share V570 dual lens. I won't knock it, the V570 was an incredible camera in it's time. I got mine in early 2006 (maybe one of the first models out) and it was and still is a charm for ease of use and quality for a little pocket camera. It seemed ahead of it's time at one point, it preceded the Nikon Cool Pix craze of the mid/late 2000's. In my humble opinion the V570 I had was doing a better job than many of the Cool Pix cameras floating around out there amongst people I knew that were using Cool Pixs. It was better to me on so many points. It is the most user friendly interface camera I've ever used, it was more compact than the Cool Pix and it put out clearer shots from what I could compare. It had an accurate and up to the second read out on it's screen of what was captured. The V570  Captured motion shots with ease, was quick to get to and could sport a heck of a zoom for a compact pocket camera. One of the best components of that little mighty camera was the Carl Zeiss lenses it sported, Zeiss being a world standard in often the best flippin' lenses made on the planet. Someday not long from now I'll furnish pictures of my old V570 on here, it may be either in one or in it's current state, a bit of a project sprawled out in pieces on a table. On an adventure this last fall I sadly dropped it in some tunnels at the bottom of a missile base I was exploring. The tunnels are partially flooded. I quickly pulled the camera out of the water and when I got home, immediately disassembled it to let the components dry and I'm hoping when I re-assemble it, it'll work. I like that little camera and while the best modern tablets and smart phones are just now beginning to rival the quality of pictures it took, and this camera has been outdated by successor V series models Kodak made, the V570 still has potential as an easy to grab little pocket camera, I know I'm stuck in the past, but this is where the new Cannon comes in!

The new Cannon Rebel will hopefully last longer, for sure some of the first things on my to-do list is to acquire some UV protection lenses to cover the each set of lens, I got a strap with the Rebel but for sure I'm gonna need to get the belt holster. They make quick, easy to get to belt holsters for these which is swcheeet! That would be ideal, before I go climbing around anymore dark spooky places that are flooded, using a holster to protect and keep it in place is a must and further more using a strap just in case it were to fall from the holster would be an added safeguard.. then I'm gonna want to find a good camera bag for it that would be padded and made for extreme conditions, between mountain climbing, wading rivers, exploring caves, going into subterranean tunnels, repelling on ropes, all that crazy stuff I best find optimal protection for "Teh hand Cannon."

I'm totally stoked, there's so much I'm finding on this Rebel that's blowing my mind, with it I also got an extra high capacity storage card, and a second lens, a telephoto lens. The features are abound, numerous functions, fully adjustable shutter speed, aperture, and timing settings. Manual and auto focus, stabilizer. Too much to mention really, I'm still discovering much. One of the best things is it's a pro-grade digital camera that really feels like a camera should. I've been shooting digital cameras for a decade now, as a kid I use to shoot with my grandfather's 35 mm Nikon before I got access to digital. the Nikon was a great camera, so were all the other old film cameras I had access to. Two things the early digital could not do, had poor image pixel quality, I think we all know this and number 2, you could not feel the shot, there was and ever present vibration from the shutter and a "click" the film cameras had which digital could not recreate, until now that is. This Rebel has that beautiful feel to the shots, it's reminiscent an old film Hasselblad feeling, the 'blad had a little more energy to the feeling but this Cannon has more natural smooth follow through shot feel.

Jeez, I could rave about this all day. So as the reader your probably asking what this all means. Well I'll tell you, this means much higher quality, better pixels, more stunning in focus, lifelike definition photos are coming right at you on this blog. I'm dying for a chance to get back to Glacier National National Park sometime because the photos I shot were with the V570, those were alright, some good, for just a little pocket camera.. this well, I suspect me and the Rebel would make a real big dent! So here's a little taste of what this Rebel is capable of. Lookout! Prepare for visual sensory overload!

This is using the telephoto lens standing on the other side of the house! The outside temperature on the thermometer is not displayed, the wire is broke (darn 20 plus year old thermometers breaking!) but I could read the inside temperature as 63 degrees.



Suddenly this camera and my eye for the shot is bringing out the cat's expression in haunting clarity.

 Advante-garde absolute definition. I've been wow'ed!



Looking out a window at night. Probably hard to tell I was inside with this shot.

Perfect timing this year, many years we don't get snow on Christmas or if we have a snowy Christmas, it's a slush mess and ice storm in the days proceeding Christmas. Here it's coming down right on cue and began falling just after sundown on Christmas Eve, you can't ask for better timing from old man weather.

Muppet (the dog) bathing Smudge (the cat).

 

Another shot with the telephoto, from the other side of the kitchen.

From another part of the house, zoomed in on an old guitar in the family room. I can read the label on the inside of the guitar, better yet, this is not even full zoom, I can zero in on the part of the label alone, just then you would not know what your looking at, I backed out enough so it can be seen that it's a guitar. This is uber cool, it's like the SR-71 Blackbird of telephoto capable cameras, actually I know there's way stronger telephoto lenses out there, I'll probably add more to this rig but this is seriously cool stuff.. and yes the Blackbird is reference to the super sonic super duper secret American spy plane the US Air Force flew in the 1960's, a piece of technology so insanely ahead of it's time, it could allegedly read the date off a penny from some insane altitude many miles above the earth (not sure if I believe that one or if that's a myth) but you get my jest. The telephoto on this camera has some awesome potential.

How's this for checking to see if the food is done? I'm not anywhere near the microwave. I'm more than halfway across the house!

 

These were some of the better shots, as with anything new like this, there's a fine art to honing the skill and getting into the zone with this piece of gear. I love the auto focus feature but much of this I'm doing on my own as well, turning the auto off and doing my best to manually obtain clean results. It's like the old days with film cameras, I can remember carefully focusing by turning the lens and gradually dialing in on the wheels and knobs. Flashbacks in my mind to the old 35mm in the 1990's, adjusting every last thing, bring the subject into focus, steady, breath, wait for it... exhale and press the button. Now I can resume the fine science of tweaking aperture and shutter settings, adding my own signature effects on greater levels than I was ever equipped with in the past. I'll paint with light something fierce now.

This blows everything away from before, I've shot many cameras but this is now my favorite and it kicks ass! I know I'll capture some amazing stuff with this. I'm already going- "I need to make a list.. Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks in Utah, Glacier in Montana, Bridger Tetons and Yellowstone in Wyoming!" I'm getting all fired up, too bad it's winter :( Well I got other things on my to do list before then and this gives time to plan and practice as practice makes perfect and it's said a photo can be worth 1000 words.

This is truly a great Christmas. Thank you so much, parents! This is one of those gifts that's been dropped in my hands at just the right time. This is just the exact thing I've been aiming for that I thought would be a great tool in doing what I do. Now it's my obligation to do great things with this awesome camera. It's seldom we have years like this anymore where things just come together and fit in place as they should. This is a win win situation, thank you so much!

I want to wish a Merry Christmas to friends, family & you the reader. What I bring to you all is not possible without the support you've provided along the way.