Cameras and Shooting

People always seem to be struck by the header photo, the Pink Church.  I have a small sliver of a side window which allows me this view but I have to stand on my couch to look out.  Thing is, no matter how times I take this picture and no matter which camera I use, the photos never come out the same.  I have come to the conclusion that this particular photo is a special moment arrested in time.  I might be able to duplicate it with this new camera I have or even make it better.  We'll see.

The header photo was taken with, get this, my first digital camera, a 5.0 megpixal Kodak EasyShare V550 with a small zoom.  All the early photos on this blog were taken with it (something like the first two years).  Once I was at a Circuit City store looking at cameras.  The two sales guys were young and arrogant.  They were talking about cameras with some other young, arrogant customers.  One of the sales guys made the comment that it was impossible to take good pictures with a mere point and shoot.  I spoke up telling him I'd taken some perfectly lovely photos with my Kodak EasyShare.  He literally rolled his eyes at me.  His credibility went right out the window and so I left the store.  I went back once or twice but never bought anything then Circuit City died a well publicized death.

Left to Right:  Nikon J1, Panasonic DMC-TZ4 with 10x zoom and Leica lens, Kodak EasyShare V550

Shit, I've taken some lovely pictures using my phone camera so I can't help but think that part of taking good pictures is also about how you see, not just the equipment you're using.

I've posted this picture before.  Taken with my Motorola Droid phone camera.
That's a street light shining behind the tree.  A very flawed picture but still striking.

And this, one of my favorite self-portraits, was also taken with the Kodak EasyShare then changed from color to black and white.

Also, posted elsewhere on this blog.  Probably the third or fourth time now.

Most of the photos in the last couple of years were taken with my Panasonic camera.  That little camera has served me well.  Here's its iteration of the Pink Church.

The church at dawn.  Camera shake is a problem for me hence the not quite in focus look.

And, finally, I'll be shooting more with my Nikon, my first camera with interchangeable lenses.  This evening I took the following picture.  Keep in mind it was dark when I took this shot.  As in so dark, I couldn't really see the church.  This camera performs very well in low light.

Actually, I kind of like how this one came out.  I was thinking of replacing it as the blog header but there's something special about the original pink church header photo.

I've got a long way to go before I can really start taking decent pictures with this camera.  I've taken some nice ones so far but don't feel comfortable with it yet.   That just means I'll have to out shooting some more (and posting the pictures to this blog).