Everything Old is New Again (a Trip Down Memory Lane)

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With the horrific weather the last couple of days, we've been pretty much hibernating in the rig.

A good friend of mine has been seeking my advice about getting a camera and learning to take pictures. I really don't know why she's asking me, but I'm trying to help.

In looking around the internet, I found the Panasonic Lumix FZ35 on sale at Amazon for only $265, a great deal. This is the camera I've used for the last couple of years. I now also have a Canon 7D, but when I know I'm going out shooting for a few hours, I bring both cameras. Really, they are different animals completely. I love the Lumix for the quick shot, the 18x optical zoom and the Zeiss wide angle lens. If you just want to fire off a few shots, or don't wish to learn the unspeakable language of the camera (which I've discussed many times), this is a perfect camera.

In preparing to try to show my friend a bit about photography, I went back and started looking at some of my old shots.

A truly humbling experience.

I now see how they can all be improved, since I'm so much better at photo manipulation than when we first went on the road. A lot of people seem to think that tweaking your photos on a computer is a cheat, but I feel it's the same kind of manipulation that used to be done in the darkroom.

That's my stance and I'm stickin' to it!

ANYHOW, this whole project led me to playing around with some of my old photos. Long time readers have probably seen all these, but I think they'll be new to many readers (and I like them, so there . . .)

This is probably my favorite shot ever
out of the thousands
of hummingbird photos
I've taken over the years.

Another favorite
(feel free
to click to enlarge)

I could only do so much with this shot
it's not too clear
but I love the face.

Handmade hardware in Santa Fe.
What beautiful work.

Chica and Hombre,
Two of my favorite dogs.
They were huddling under the blankets
because it was snowing outside
and they're Mexican beach dogs.

Intricate and colorful tile work from
Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A close up of more tiles.
If I could,
I'd cover the outside
of Cholula Red with these.

This is a shot of a weed patch,
I turned it in to a watercolor.

This is some kind of insect
that visited the rig
when we first went on the road.
It stayed around,
posing for pictures for me
for a couple of hours.

Another shot that's not so great
but this was the very first time
I managed to catch
a sharp(ish) photo
of a bird in flight.

Another not so great shot,
but it shows the thousands of birds at
Bosque del Apache.
Where I wish I was right now . . .

One more shot of
the Bosque.

This was taken while we were
at a celebration
at one of the Pueblos.

A final shot.

Caterpillars on their nest
2006, Hyde State Park
Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Hopefully,
I'll get out in the next
couple of days
and won't have to resort
to posting old pictures!