My new point-and-shoot came yesterday. I’m not totally unfamiliar with the functions since it is the same brand (Nikon) as the one I wore out, but it’s just enough different that I will need a little start-up time learning how best to use it.
The lovely Dougy in a new head shot for my facebook page.
The photo above is a screen print from an accidental video I shot. The still photo (below) shows a grumpier, less friendly looking Dougy, which he is not!
Dougy isn’t a grumpy cat.
After a few involved posts lately, I’m settling today for this minimalist look at what my new camera can do.
Incidentally, the second photo shows Dougy’s colors with more subtlety than the screen print. Both he and his brother Andy are very pretty cats!
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Simple, light-weight, and capable of making adequate videos. And cheap! (Check me out on YouTube, where my full range of videos came be found at phainopepla95 , though many are here on my blog and facebook as well.)
Nikon Coolpix S100
It’s a Nikon Coolpix S100 like this one in the photo. It’ll do until I decide if I really want to get into a serious camera with interchangeable lenses again. (I still have Nikon film cameras – an FTN and an F2, I think it is – and a range of lenses that I bought 40 years ago when I was in the US Army. I don’t use them because of the hassle of finding and developing film, not to forget the hassle of storing negatives and prints. I am fully committed to digital!)
The comments are interesting.
Yes, well, naturally they let some of the dangerous ones out….
http://io9.com/5912064/if-you-are-elderly-and-poor-prison-is-better-than-a-retirement-home
Sounds like the right wing answer to healthcare and care for the elderly.
That statistic is true. This is largely a result of anti-drug laws and “three times and you’re out” laws that all had mandatory long prison sentences. Private prisons have become a big business in response to the “need” to incarcerate people guilty of having a small amount of drugs on their person, for example, who are sentenced to long terms. I note that these laws are mostly a legacy of Republican administrations (Nixon and Reagan administrations in particular), and affect African American males predominately. It’s a politically charged issue I feel will continue to be a blot on American life until the demographic changes going on in this country run their course, laws are repealed or revised to reflect a more realistic view of the mentality that lead to the severe sentences. It costs $40,000 (not an exact number- just what I recall reading once) to keep someone in prison for a year, and a third that to send them to college. Not all imprisoned people are scholars, of course, but not all people imprisoned are imprisoned for behaviors that are a serious threat to public safety. It makes more sense to help people learn things that help them be productive members of society instead of imprisoning them where they learn how to be thugs, thieves, and other unsavory characters by exposure to criminal elements. A prison sentence tends to hang over people’s heads for life, and many end up back in prison because they are unable to shift back into civilian life. Seriously, this is not a topic I am qualified to give more than opinions on.
Wow you are blessed to have that within travelling distance.
I think it’s time the human race stopped abusing its animals and it’s one thing worth complaining about.
They get a raw deal as sometimes make the excuse that humans are more important to worry about.
We can start to set the example of how to treat each other by taking proper care of the animals that we deprive of freedom and put in a cage. People ought to start speaking up more about it. I’ve decided to do that.
I heard from Jesse Ventura that the US has a higher percentage of its population in prison than anywhere else in the world, which is shocking for the land of the free – but perhaps that’s the very reason – but here it is:
http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&category=wb_poprate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Doorly_Zoo_and_Aquarium#Zoo_history_timeline
People in my state are very proud of this zoo and aquarium for the world standards it sets and what it contributes to breeding endangered species. I agree with your statements about offering captive animals adequate space, environmental stimulation, and big doses of love in the form of concern and care for animals in their care. It’s quite a change from the zoos of even a few decades ago. Those tended to be cages without plants or adequate shelter. That pacing back and forth business was depression, just as you note.
Having seen the Big Cat Rescue videos, I think they are a great cat charity as they can lead the way in how to treat big cats. So often abused by zoos and parks and even rescue centres, being locked up without being properly loved and cared for and given sufficient interesting things to keep them entertained, so that they check out and get bored and listless and even a form of depression and madness You can see the difference in their body language and their eyes. Cats are supposed to have the most similar nervous system to humans which is why we can live so closely to them so easily, easier than with dogs who in many ways need more care.
http://bigcatrescue.org/
Great video!
Oh and there just happens to be one where they play with a LASER POINTER.
[Not so subtle hint!]
They decide when they feel like playing with a toy. I just hope I have my camera the next time they get wound up on the laser toy!
That organisation “Big Cat Rescue” has some really nice vids, one where they give the cats a watermelon and another where they give them a pumpkin, another with catnip and so on. They know how to treat cats and the animals do look really happy. That black panther is wonderful and I like the pair of sandy coloured cats – Lynx? – where one is called Willow. They are like a comedy act, funny when they whack each other.
Thanks! I don’t know if that sells me on Marmite, but I’m amazed some of the cats actually seemed to like it. Ha! I agree with you on treatment of these beautiful animals.
Thought you might like this:
http://youtu.be/Djr4jfHcslA
Nice to see in this organisation unlike some others (and I would even include that Lion Man – perhaps that’s why his mother took over the company) where the cats are so well loved and cared for.
Haha, I love his face!
He usually looks owl-like, but in these photos (taken from slightly below him) he looks like a bat! Well, a fat bat…! Thanks! He looks more Persian than his brother Andy to me. Andy has a sweeter, more kittenish look to me. Regardless, both have sweet dispositions unless I have to give them medicine or a bath. Fortunately, that hasn’t been necessary lately: We don’t like either baths ort eyedrops, the boys or me! (…for them, I should specify as I regardly bathe and sometimes give myself eye drops without wincing or crying out loud. LOL!)
It isn’t that heavy, though it feels solidly built.
I especially like the view screen on back, which covers the whole back of the camera. The touchscreen controls are easily used, require only a light touch. It has 16 megapixels, quite a leap from the early cameras in this price range (or higher, for that matter).
It is by no means professional quality, but it is a solid little camera at the price, and it has glass optics. You can make HD stereo sound videos with it, panoramic photos (there’s a couple DVDs that come with it that include the software to make that happen. One of these days, I’ll try it, but there isn’t anything inside that I want to see in 360 degrees! You can even make 3D pictures, but you have to have a 3D television to see the results. I’m not that enthralled with 3D effects anyway!
I’m partial to Nikon products, but there are similar cameras available in this range that also get great reviews. Nikon (according to Consumer Reports) have slightly worse repair issues than Canon, for example, but they noted that cameras in this price range, this type of camera in general at any price range, tend to be highly reliable. My old one got dropped a few times…! I’m sure that contributed nothing to its focus issues…. Surely not!
Is the new camera as lightweight as it appears in the photo? I took my best photos with a 1970s manual Canon AE1 until I sold it a few years ago on eBay because I was tired of dealing with film, flash, etc. I now have a Canon Powershot SX100 IS that takes excellent photos but is very bulky and heavy.
Looks like you got a good camera there. That screen shot is super clear. The still photo does show more of the variance in color of Dougy’s fur. I bet if you put the still in photoshop you could tone down the over lit portion of Dougy’s face. He’s cute even when he’s grumpy.
I did a little “Photoshoppery” on both. Too quote Sir Edmund Hillary out of context, “Because it is there!” Specifically, it’s on my taskbar, and I do like to see if I can improve any (sometimes I do) on what I can get under extreme and less-than-ideal conditions in my apartment.
I don’t know that I am skilled or knowledgeable enough to dodge in detail in the sun-washed part of Dougy’s face. Perhaps I should make a copy of the photo and see what I can learn! I really don’t get into as much depth with the Photoshop program as I could, mostly out of laziness.
(I guess that should be sufficient shaming to get me to pull out that Photoshop bible of a zillion pages to see how to do it!)
I wasn’t meaning to shame you in anyway! Sorry if it came off that way. I don’t do as much with photoshop as I should either. I don’t have a manual for it, so I’ve just learned by trial and error. Dougy looks awesome as he is 🙂
I’m retired, so I have time to try different things on complex programs like Photoshop – no offense taken!
Aren’t new gadgets fun (when they’re not being frustrating?) Beautiful pictures; very handsome kitty.
I have to agree, Maggie! Of course, it helps to have a beautiful subject (such as yourself!) to photograph. I’m sure even you agree with me my kitties are pretty, well, pretty!
Absolutely!
Pretty cats indeed!
They are both photos of Dougy. Andy didn’t get the camera treatment yet, at least in a photo I liked well enough to post. He usually takes a good photo, though. Maybe he should be my hot topic for tomorrow now that I have the camera figured out well enough to get images of one sort or another!
That is a great shot of Dougy and he is beautiful.
Dougy and I thank you!