A New Camera, and Some Thoughts About Photography

After MONTHS of trolling Best Buy and Staples (I just can't pass up the camera section), I finally purchased a new camera - which I need like a hole in the head, as my mother used to say (I now own three digital cameras).

My new one is a Nikon Coolpix S630! It has 12 megapixels, 7x zoom, 2.7 inch LCD screen, and vibration reduction. The vibration reduction, or image stabilization feature is very important to me with my MS. I usually shoot about 5 or more shots of something to ensure that I get one or two good pictures due to my shaking and tremors. Sometimes, the images look great on the screen, but when I download them to my computer, I can scream because they are so blurry. Alas, at times, when I am really in a flare up, even image stabilization does not help.

I was in the market for a more powerful point-and-shoot. I just love that I can stick these cameras in my purse when I'm on the go. Since I've revived my passion for photography, I look at everything with a photographer's eye.

The point-and-shoots are also great to stick in your pocket! I do this when I'm out in my garden.

Before purchasing my new Nikon, I was using a Canon point-and-shoot, a Power Shot SD1100 IS Digital Elph. I still love this camera, especially for its feature of an old-fashioned view finder. Most of the new digitals do not have one. Plus, if it's super sunny outside, most digital camera viewing screens turn very dark or even black! If you are in the market for a new digital point-and-shoot, you wouldn't be sorry if you bought a Canon Power Shot. My Power Shot has 8 megapixels and a smaller zoom. It also has image stabilization.

But the huge happiness for me is that this camera is my first Nikon.

When I was in art school, Nikon was the camera to have. All of my teachers had either a Nikon or a Leica. Those of us who couldn't afford them had Canons.

We were taught that it is not necessarily the camera that makes a great picture, but rather the skill of the photographer, both IN and OUT of the darkroom (now in front of your computer after you download your shots). We learned all about aperature, lens, film speed, and lighting. The modern photographer hobbiest doesn't have to worry about this stuff. They don't even have to use film anymore; all the pictures are on a memory card! I remember 15 of us students in art school, crammed into a dark room, each of us with a 100 ft. roll of film and a pair of scissors in our hands, instructed to cut strips of 36 exposures, and then wind them onto a roll and cartridge. You had to do it all by feel. And you had to stay in that hot, dark room until every student finished the task, lol. Not an activity for the claustrophic person! We worked exclusively in black and white; forget about color.

Now, the digital camera and computer it all.

The old-head photographer's studio contained a number of cameras with various lights and filters to go with them, an enlarger for printing, paper, developing trays, burning tools, chemicals, lines for hanging film and prints to dry, etc.

A lot of specialty photography and camera shops have shut down since digital photography and the big box digital stores have appeared on the scene.

I have friends, a husband and wife, who own a photography studio and imaging shop. They also specialize in custom framing. I met them when I needed to have some Islaamic calligraphy framed. The wife told me that she had an art intern from one of the local universities. They had an appointment for some marriage engagement pictures, and the wife had the intern take some shots. They turned out really really horrible. The wife said that the schools aren't really teaching students how to take good pictures like they did when we went to school. The focus is on image editing - fixing them in PhotoShop or Nik. (Nik, hee hee - my next investment!)

Just think of the power of a well taken image AND powerful editing software!

What do you think? Any old-head photographers out there who read me? Or you younger digital photographers? Anyone have a Nikon Coolpix?