Sony style
It looks like her name is going to be Stinkerbelle.
We’re not 100% decided, but it’s close.
After years of whining about how I could never get a good closeup or action picture with a point-and-click camera, I ordered a new camera last weekend. A real camera: a digital single lens reflex (SLR) 10.2 megapixel Sony α A100H, with an 18-200mm telephoto lens and a gargantuan flash.
Sony says I can “[e]njoy the all-new Sony α (alpha) DSLR-A100 camera with an amazing zoom lens to get you started. Included in this kit is the versatile SAL-18200 18-200mm standard zoom lens. This easily handles the standard range of shots you’ll take most often—but there’s nothing standard about the alpha’s advanced optical design. With superior all-in-one lens performance for everyday shooting, its 35mm-equivalent range of 27mm wide-angle to 300mm telephoto excels at capturing faraway subjects, sports events, dramatic landscapes and intimate close-up views.
“The a (alpha) DSLR-A100 digital camera features Super SteadyShot® in-camera image stabilization, Dynamic Range Optimizer to automatically increase detail in bright and dark picture areas, new anti-dust technology to keep the CCD imager clean for better pictures, and Eye-Start® autofocus system for faster camera response.”
I don’t know about all that fancy talk, but I do know one thing: it takes some right fine pictures.
Probably it’ll take even better ones once I bother to learn how to use it. The last two afternoons I took pictures instead of working on the shed, so I’ll need to do some double-time this weekend to catch up.
Here are a few examples:
Not a great picture (no flash, overcast), but good-lookin’ chicken
Butterfly on black-eye pea leaf
Our peas are COVERED with about 50 (literally) different kinds of waspy-looking bugs
Some of our second planting corn gets a little pollination help
Miss Mama gives me the sexy eyes from her nap spot on the hood of the truck
A hummingbird, not humming.
Meeting of the minds on a new peaflower bud
A butterfly rests on a corn leaf
Another waspy sort of bug on the peas
A garden spider who stands guard over our front door
I could grow to like this camera.
I’ve mentioned my achy wrist before, and wrote about getting an MRI, but I don’t think I ever followed up.
There’s apparently nothing wrong with me.
The orthopedic surgeon saw a little inflammation in the tendons, and there was a tiny little ganglion cyst in there, but that was it. He said he thought it was most likely the tendon inflammation causing the pain and that if I take it easy (heh) it should get better. He didn’t think the cyst was big enough to be causing any problems.
I have an anti-inflammatory called Mobic (I think) that seems to help a little when I remember to take it. Problem is, working on the shed is really causing it to flare up, especially with hanging girts, which is what I’m doing now.
Getting old sucks, and having an achy wrist sucks, but I’m glad it’s nothing that requires surgical intervention.
Speaking of getting old, here’s some proof that you are, if you remember this:
When I was five, my parents took me to G. C. Murphy in Decatur and bought me the 45 (!) for the song above, my current favorite at the time. We stopped at my aunt and uncle’s house on the way home to visit, and I took my new record inside to show it off.
And sat on it and broke it.
Boy, did I cry. It still makes me sad to think about it. I loved that damn song. Still do, I reckon.
Now Karen’s dead, G. C. Murphy is gone, and my aunt is succumbing to Alzheimer’s. Time marches on.
But that song is still goddamn fine, though.
I still say your sister resembles Karen Carpenter (except, y’know, not dead).
She was amazing. Such a pure voice.. they don’t make them like her anymore. Now we get to listen to screachy whores like Britney. Sad.
Why do enjoy making me feel old all the time?
Thanks for the flash-back.
-Nancy
“Waspy sort of bug?” I think that’s an actual wasp . . . and boy, I sure would not be that close to it . . .
Stingers ‘n me do not get along.
Those are some damn fine photos you got there!
Debbie - I call them waspy-looking because they all look like wasps, only they’re different sizes and colors. There are shiny black-green ones, and red ones, and orange ones, and blue-black ones, and yellow-black, and others. They all have that same segmented body and look like they want to sting, though they generally ignore me when I’m out there. I suspect some of them are yellowjackets, or hornets, or dirt daubers, in addition to actual wasps. We have plenty of red wasps, believe you me.
Excellent bug picture taking! Gonna have to post more often to show us all the pictures you are taking.
Your photos are fantastic! I swear, you and Robyn are people of many talents.
“…screachy whores like Britney. Sad.”
LMAO
Thanks for the memory, LOVE that song!! great start to a Friday morning!!!
Back when I was in college in the 70s, among my favorite records of groups like Queen, the Eagles, Boston, etc …. was one of the Carpenters greatest hits compilations. I wish I had had a chance to see her sing in concert. Karen had such a great voice. Their version of Leon Russel’s “Superstar” send chills down my spine.
Your pictures are really good. I especially like the macro ones.
Today I took my youngest to his first (1 day/week) MMO program and I cried. And now I’m sitting here singing along with Karen and crying again. Thanks, dammit. I love that song too.
I feel so left out, I’m at work and can’t listen to the song. Which one is it? Although I’ve never owned any Carpenter albums I’ve always liked every song I’ve ever heard.
Those are some might fine pictures you’ve taken. Can’t wait to see the ones after you’ve figured out how to use it.
Katrina: It’s “Top of the World” by the Carpenters.
Smart man, going against the norm and buying a Sony DSLR. Their DSLR technology is all Konica-Minolta, and I’m a proud owner of a K-M 5D DSLR.
I LOVE that “meeting of the minds” pic!
I HAD severe pain from my wrist through my deltoids from twenty years of weightlifting and being a prep cook(repetitive chopping).Tendonitis is a bitch…
Glucocsamine sulfate,1500 mg a day healed me up perfectly.
It’s also recommended by my knee surgeon to retain what’s left of my knee cartilage.
Your only problen with getting GS is finding the right brand for you at a reasonable price.
healthyamerica.net has a good formula at the best price I have seen. Schiff brand didn’t work for me at all. Sometimes it can take up to two weeks for the GS to work although I felt the difference in a week.
Switching from barbells to dumbbells will also help ease the strain on your tendons. You will get the added benefit of increased size and strength because dumbbells really challenge your balance so much that all the little bits of your muscles are brought into play.
When I switched to dumbbells because of tendonitis,I went from using 40 lb. dumbbells for my chest presses to 60 and 65 lb. dumbbells within 6 months.
Getting weightlifting gloves with attached wrist wraps are essential because a snug wrapping of the wrist straps will support your wrists while you lift.
Stretching your arms before and after each set of upper body work will help aid and prevent tendonitis. I learned this from a bodybuilding coach that gave a seminar at Gold’s Gym in Anchorage,Alaska.
I had NEVER like stretching before,but when I did do the stretching,it was like a whole other side of lifting was opened up. Pain-free and increased results!
I hope you feel better,Fred. I adore you and Robyn so much I could just hug and squeeze you two all day! I’ve read your journals from the start-nine yrs or so? The only other journal/blog I read is Rosie.com. When you read the best,forget the rest is what I feel.
I was sorry to hear that Robyn has a stalker. If there was a way that all her fans could pounce on this freak,he/she would be overwhelmed at the sheer numbers!
Good choice on the alpha! I just saw that Sony announced thier new one, an Alpha 700 yesterday. I have a Minolta 7D and LOVE it. Ive tried the others but always go back to mine.
Im jealous of your lens! I have been pining over that lens for awhile now but need to save my pennies.
Congrats on the big boy camera!
Fred, if you enjoy pictures like the ones you just took maybe you should look into a macro lens. Then you can see the individual hairs on the spider in super sharp detail!! Once you have a DSLR it’s hard to keep from buying those expensive lenses.
You can find lots of help and encouragement here:
www.fredmiranda.com
www.photography-on-the.net/forum
although the second forum is for Canon users. I have a Canon 30D and am completely hooked now.
Man…Karen had such a beautiful voice. The female singers today only wish they had an ounce of her talent. And the fact that physically she was beautiful, but could never see it, only makes her death even sadder. I love The Carpenters, even though I’m a little on the “young” side (I was only in 3rd grade when she died) to have experienced them in person.
Hmmph. I may be old, but I don’t have to like it. :p
Love the Carpenters. I was listening to Superstar when all my ditzy friends were listening to Madonna’s Like a Virgin….
;)
Damn…I love the Carpenters. I put Karen Carpenter’s voice right up there with Judy Garland’s and Barbra Steisand’s. To me they are three best female popular singers of the 20th century. Each voice is so pure yet each is so distinctly unique. Thanks for the blast from the past.
Thanks Fred. It’s 12:15 a.m. and I’m finally able to get on here to hear it. She’s got such a beautiful voice.
I am 41 and confess that at age 8 or so my friends and I used to grab a brush and sing our hearts out to the Carpenters. Such a squeaky clean duo in hindsight, unheard of today in this show your ‘tits and ass’ music world.
My left elbow hurts every morning and less as the day goes on. I used to be so STRONG! Frustrating but so far no major implications (as she avoids getting the blood work done for rheumatoid arthritis doc suggests
Getting old sucks. But the alternative not so great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43RxoAcWIBQ
This song reminds me of you and Robyn. Happy wishes to you both!
WOW. Our Sony does really well, but it’s 5 years old. Those pictures are fabulous!
How close were you to the bugs when taking these photos?
That hummingbird one is great. LOOKATHISLITTLEFEET!!!@%%^
Sorry. It’s a chick thing.