Kamera no Jutsu

Thursday, February 7

Misplaced

Olympus - Hetch-Hetchy Dam 2004

At the time, I thought this tree looked really out of place - now, I think a bonsai made from it would be kickin'.

Monday, February 4

Olympus - Yosemite National Park 2003

During a family vacation to Yosemite we had a few picnics at a nearby lake (I forget the name), and this bird was there every single time. I think he was stalking us.

Sunday, February 3

Silent

Olympus - LlamaiiLand by the Sea 2005
Power outages on calm nights are oh-so-wonderful.

Saturday, February 2

Foreign Green

Kodak - Colorado River Park 2008

As part of the effort to restore the park to its natural state, most of the bamboo stands have been chopped down and hauled off. Guess they missed this one.

Friday, May 13

Wall

Olympus - Galveston beach 2005

A significant portion of the island is protected - from erosion, floodwaters, so on and so forth - by the Seawall. But a massive block of concrete doesn't hold out long against continual pounding waves, so they've added big pieces of granite and cement and whatever else they could find. Not much good for building sandcastles, but great fun for climbing!

Saturday, May 7

Green and Grey

Olympus - LlamaiiLand by the Sea 2005

My mom has an amazing green thumb, and a virtual miniature forest on our porch. It always makes me think of some fantastic world full of little tiny people, or incredibly large vines, or maybe both.

Feline Ferocity

Olympus - LlamaiiLand by the Sea 2005

Meet Amadeus, the Incredible Yawning Cat.

Friday, May 6

Wave Action

Olympus - Galveston beach 2005

In a grand display of photographic prowess: This was supposed to be a video. Oops.

The Kameras

Olympus Camedia C-740 Ultra Zoom - The family favorite, and one of the toughest cameras I've ever seen. Mine hasn't quite been immersed in water, but it has been left in the backseat of a closed car in 100+ degree weather for two weeks, in the trunk of the same car in 15 degree weather for several days, carried about in the pouring rain, and dropped from varying heights onto various surfaces. I've had the zoom mechanism jam, the eyepiece covered in mud, the battery cover held on by duct tape alone, and the lens jump out and nearly get crushed by an oncoming vehicle. And after all that, the thing still works. Imagine what the Olympus cameras that are actually designed for tough love can handle.

Kodak Easy-Share C743 - By stark contrast, this camera was broken when it showed up. (Lucky for me it was free.) Other than the viewscreen being cracked beyond use, though, it's a useful little machine, small enough to fit in my pocket but not so small that I lose the thing. And honestly, using the regular viewfinder has its advantages sometimes.

Philips Keychain Digital Camera - Best $15 I ever spent. Until I started using a Mac laptop, and discovered that Mac and Philips don't get along. I do occasionally get the chance to download the camera to a borrowed computer, though, so it's still clipped to my keychain, just in case.

Verizon G-Zone Camera Phone - The newest addition to my bag o' technology. Being a camera phone, the quality isn't all that great, but it does come in handy when the neighborhood deer herd decides to saunter across the road.