This and That

The weather has been dismal these past few weeks, and between the gloomy days, the extra hours of darkness before and after work, and the hectic holiday preparations, I've had very little opportunity to shoot any photos. On Sunday afternoon, though, while I was in the Portland area doing some Christmas shopping, I managed to get in an hour of shooting. The day started out sunny, but gradually deteriorated to a dull gray. Late in the afternoon, though, as the lowering sun was making a valiant effort to break through the clouds, I was able to get some really nice shots, including this one, taken from the McDonald's parking lot on Route 1 in Falmouth. I love the sight of bare branches against the sky, especially when there's exquisite backlighting like this.


This second shot was taken from Portland's Eastern Promenade, looking west toward the Casco Bay Bridge and South Portland. I love the bands of color in the sky; you can see that the sun is really trying to make an appearance before it goes down. Another example of bare branches against the sky, a theme I keep returning to. But this one isn't complicated by power lines; it's just a simple tree against a cold winter sky.



I sent out my Canon PowerShot SX10 for repair a couple of weeks ago. Although I love my DSLR, the PowerShot is still my baby. It's a great walkaround camera; the photos are crisp, the zoom is awesome, and you don't have to change lenses. The poor thing has issues since I dropped it a while back. There's a hole in the body where a piece actually broke out of it, and when I push the shutter button to focus, the camera ticks like a time bomb. It's very disconcerting to hear that "tick...tick...tick" every time I try to take a shot. Even worse, the autofocus is malfunctioning. Sometimes it works, sometimes I get shots that are nothing but a watery blur, especially when using the zoom. Best Buy says it's covered for accidental damage, and they will either repair or replace it. Hope that happens soon. The DSLR is awesome, but sometimes I just want the convenience of the PowerShot. And there are some things it does better than the more expensive DSLR. If they can't repair it, I hope they'll offer me a replacement that does all the same things and gives the same quality shots. My fingers are crossed!