You know when you get something new and you completely turn back into an 8-year-old? Yeah? Well, that’s me right now.
Remember how I was getting totally frustrated with my old little point-and-shoot camera and I decided to upgrade?
I did it!
On Tuesday night, Doug and I decided to check around at some of our local stores to see if we could find the camera I had selected at a decent price. I had been all set to order it from Amazon, but I prefer to support local businesses when I can. Plus, I got an exciting bit of news about our trip to Antiques Roadshow on Saturday (more on that in a minute) and so I wanted to see if it was possible to get the new camera before then. And though my actual birthday is not until next month, with a little birthday help from my mom and dad and Doug’s mom and dad (thanks moms and dads!), I was able to make the move a little faster than I’d anticipated.
While I was totally prepared to head for Walmart or Best Buy, we tried a near-by camera shop where we typically get photos printed and their price was actually $3 less than Amazon! Now, we did have to pay tax, but that was off-set by the convenience of being able to get it right then.
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| You know the first photo I took was of Chester. |
As you can see, since then I have been playing around with all the capabilities the new camera has that the old camera didn’t. And what a difference it makes! Here’s a side-by-side shot of the same object, from the same angle, in the same light, sans Photoshop touch-ups or adjustments.
Not that I want to call attention to bad housekeeping, but if you look right above the second “A” in camera on the right, there is dust on the bottom of the globe. On the left? Nothing. Plus don’t you just love the way the background looks on the right? The color is also much truer to the real grey of our living room than the one on the left. I’ve been using the 50mm lens almost exclusively, but I expect I’ll be using the kit lens for things like that shot of the camera shop above in the future.
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| Peterson’s Ice Cream Depot in Clifton, Virginia |
Speaking of Burke Camera, one of the benefits of purchasing at a store where they actually know something about cameras is that they kept me from making a huge mistake that would have probably left me feeling a lot less satisfied about the new camera. While I knew I wanted a 50mm lens, I had actually selected the wrong one in my post on Monday. What I actually needed was an AFS lens (with a motor in the lens) as opposed to an AF lens, which doesn’t have a motor and would have required a lot more expert adjustments on my part to work correctly. And probably endless frustration from me. But not now! Now I can effortlessly take shots like this!
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| A set of brass faux bamboo nesting tables I picked up for the shop and a tray from Yellow Hammer Design Shop |
And now for my big Antiques Roadshow news.
Not only did I get selected for tickets through the regular ticket lottery, a few months ago when I tweeted about it, I got an email from a Media Relations person at Antiques Roadshow inviting me to register as press for the event. This means that not only will I get to show all of you the awesomeness that is actually being at an Antiques Roadshow appraisal day, I will also get to show you some cool behind-the-scenes stuff that regular folks don’t get to see.
I’m pretty excited. Actually, I’m very excited. Doug has to keep reminding me to breathe.
So tomorrow stay tuned for what I actually decided to bring with me (if you haven’t taken my poll, now is your last chance!) and everything else we plan to do while we’re in Richmond.
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