Some really nice shots on this fairly new collaborative photoblog.

No, I’m not getting a DSLR anytime soon. But a guy can dream, right?

I’ve been experimenting a bit more with the light tent that I made a couple weeks ago. The past two nights I’ve tried to take pictures of these pillows that Kate made (which she obviously got better pictures of in the daylight). I’m flat out embarrassed by the pictures of the pillows in the tent, so you’re not going to see any of those. I think they might be too big for the space I’ve got to work with. So after much frustration with quilted items and vintage toys, I picked a new subject.

I lowered the shutter speed to 1/13 and that seemed to help a bit, although I might need to go even slower. I’m frustrated with the “grayness” of this picture. If I touch it up much more in Photoshop to get the whites brighter, it washes out the corners and the wires blend with the background. Any photographers out there have suggestions in how I can get my light tent photos nice and crisp like this one by Jeffrey Bail? Feedback of “buy a DSLR” is unacceptable.

LifeHacker, which I mentioned in my last post, pointed me to the Digital Photography School, a blog all about. . . er. . . digital photography. Go figure. It has a lot of great information for an amateur photographer like myself. And when I say amateur, I mean that in the most amateurish sense of the word amateur.

For Kate’s business, we have to take pictures of her products outside, because the lighting in our house is terrible. So when I found an article on how to make an inexpensive light tent, I was all about giving it a try. So two weekends ago, Simon and I went out and bought all the supplies, and I spent several hours on Saturday and Sunday putting this guy together.

So naturally I wanted to give it a shot. Since this will hopefully eventually be used for product photos, I tried a couple of eyeglass cases Kate made.

If I were using this as a product photo, I’d crop it tighter, but I left it as is to show the problem that I’m having with vignetting. It’s just one of several problems that I need to solve. In addition to lighting the top of the tent, I think I need to add some light on either side, as well. While my camera is great for a point-and-shoot, I think that I really would need a DSLR to get the kind of photos that I want out of this setup. However, I’m going to mess with the setting some more and see if I can’t get more satisfactory pictures.

The eyeglass cases weren’t the only test subject of the night. I also decided to give Laserbeak his five minutes of fame. Incidentally, this one was cropped, so the vignetting should be less noticeable.

This past Saturday Tim and I went to the Nats/O’s game thanks to the generosity of a co-worker who didn’t need his tickets. Needless to say I was torn. I grew up rooting for the Orioles, but I’m thrilled to have the Nats in town. I found myself, at various points in the game when one team would do something good, I’d cheer. Then a little bit later, the other team would do something good. And I’d cheer again. I also noticed that I wasn’t the only person in the crowd doing this.

I took the camera with me. The following series of shots was taken from waaaaaaay up in the 500 section (yellow seats) of RFK stadium. Good zoom!

We’re going to another game this Saturday, courtesy of another generous coworker. They’re playing the Dodgers, so there will be no rooting conflicts this time. It will be Simon’s first baseball game, so I guess that officially makes him a born fan of the WASHINGTON NATIONALS. Hear that everybody? A WASHINGTON NATIONALS FAN!

Not to go all Ken on you, but I am totally loving geeking out over the new camera that I finally picked up on Sunday. It’s taken some mighty fine pictures of Simon already. In fact, it’s taken almost exclusively pictures of Simon, but that’s only because he’s by far the most photogenic thing in our house. Yeah, we don’t get out much.

I’ve been waiting for this camera to be released for a couple of months, after our trusty A70 bit the dust. We could have picked up a less feature-filled (and cheaper) model, but I’m glad we waited for this one. I’ve been really happy with it so far, and I have lots to learn about how to use it to it’s fullest potential.

One benefit to the camera that I didn’t anticipate is that it takes fantastic little video clips. I don’t think it would serve well as a camcorder replacement for things like plays and concerts, but for the short little clips that we want to take of Simon and Casey, it’s perfect. I’ll upload some video in a couple of days for you to check out.

This camera seems to be the right middle ground between what we had before and upgrading all the way to a DSLR. I can’t wait to get outside at some point (maybe to Great Falls or downtown DC) and see what kind of pictures it will take outside.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that it is because of the generosity of both of our parents that we’re able to purchase such a fine camera. Thanks Mom & Dad (both sets)!

When I was looking for a place to get my camera repaired (before I knew it would not be cost-effective to do so), Lou Ann had recommended Penn Camera. I went there today to check on the status of the Canon Powershot S3 IS (”hi, when will you have this in stock?”).

Once I explained the situation we were in (new parents needing to compulsively take pictures of their baby like an addict needs crack), the staff their at Penn Camera went waaaaayyyyy out of their way to help me. They placed an order for the S3 so that I’d get one when it came in, and then they rented me a little point-and-shoot for at the low price of $10/week until the other camera arrives. What makes this even more remarkable is the fact that they don’t normally do rentals out of this store. They made it convenient for me instead of making me go to their DC location that does rentals.

The guy who helped me at their Vienna location was Chip. He was fabulous. It’s not often that I experience truly outstanding customer service. But today was an exception. My mission today was totally accomplished in exactly the manner I’d hoped it would be, and I couldn’t be happier.

Oh, and we gave Simon cereal for the first time today, and thanks to Chip and Penn Camera, I have the photos and video to prove it. More later!

So Kate and I are in the market for a digital camera. After doing a bit of research, we are thinking that we might upgrade from a regular point-and-shoot to something a bit fancier, but not quite an SLR. We’re currently looking at the Canon Powershot S3, which I think is the step up that we want. The problem is, it’s not available until May. One site I found said May 31!

Now normally this wouldn’t be a big deal. But as anybody with children can tell you, one or two months can be an eternity. And as other parents obsessed with photographing their babies can attest to, a week without a camera is too long. Anything longer than that is simply unacceptable. So do I break down and purchase a camera like the ELPH or the A700? Or do we risk missing every key moment of Simon’s life for the next month or two? I have hope that Penn Camera near us will have one in stock this weekend, but I think the woman I spoke to last week might have been mistaken. These are truly the decisions that rend one’s soul. Or something equally melodramatic. Any suggestions?