Okay, here we go again.

I thought I could resist blogging after killing off my original & I was wrong. It got me into all sorts of bother & strife over five years & perhaps that's why I miss it!

So, welcome to the 'interval'. You know that bit during any long performance when everyone rushes out of the vicinity to either; get more alcohol, pee ('cause of the latter), or shout at friends in the foyer (clearly not designed to contain everyone from the theatre), well... this is that spot.

The main photo aspect of this blog remains, but shooting photos, uploading, resizing & then writing to make them half interesting to others is hard work, so for all the thoughts I have in between, these 'interval' spots exists & they're named accordingly.

I have rules in place this time, such as; never post about work or family issues & names are a no-no. I think they're what backfired for me last time. Of course, politics, religious views & any other controversial slant are completely up for discussion. There's nothing like having a massive argument in a comments box, so bring it on!

I somehow suspect that these entries will be far more frequent than those with photos but hey, as a consolation, the page will load a bit quicker if you're stuck (like me) with dial-up!

By the way... new design in case you missed it. Here's to some stable code this time!

 

I've been running around with a big Canon S3IS for the best part of a year now & it truly is a great camera. Image stabilised, 12x optical zoom, a 0mm macro & in a size that's much more convenient than a full blown SLR (& markedly cheaper!). One day, I'm sure I'll take that next step, but for all the S3 does, I can't think of a better camera for my amaturist efforts.

That said, there are times when the S3 doesn't quite squish into the pocket as required & the 2 mega-pixel camera in my mobile phone really can't cut it for capturing a memorable moment. For that reason, I threw some money at a minuscule Canon IXUS 75. It's all rather automatic & doesn't have the whiz bang features required for all things arty, but to have it in the back pocket during a night on the town I think it's going to have been a worthwhile purchase.

Now, I'm yet to do any night out shooting (but some parties are a coming), so I scooted around the garden to see what it could do & I'm actually quite impressed.

Image stabilisation was something I thought would be a problem with the IXUS considering most new cameras now include it, but when the maximum zoom is only 3x optical it doesn't really become a problem, unless of course you're prone to jumping whilst taking photos. For the 12x zoom of the S3IS because zooming to that level, any movement looks like a 7 on the Richter scale. Hold the IXUS relatively still & you get a sharp photo. Couldn't get much simpler really, & you save a hundred or so on the price of the same camera with IS.

I suppose I'm now obligated to go out & do some night shooting. I suspect this may occur at some early hour, in a pub, at some weird angles & I may not remember taking any of them. But isn't that what these small cameras are all about!?