Operation: Hijacking the Camera

Some of you may have read my post lamenting the fact that my hubby Chris bought a new camera and hasn't been sharing.

Well….

He went out of town! So I snagged it and started a little experimenting. I’ve only got a few days before soccer season starts in order to figure out how to take amazing pics. The new camera is a Sony SLT-A65V, and it’s actually the new-and-improved version of my old camera. So I’m already familiar with some of the buttons and functions. But there are quite a few new options that I’d never seen before. Like the Sweep Panorama!

To use it, you have to pan the camera in one direction as it snaps continuous shots of your scene, creating one panoramic image. I tried it first just holding the camera in my hands, but the end result was too blurry. So I attached the camera to our tripod and tried again.

Using my favorite free photo editing software, Picasa, I zoomed in and cropped it to see how clear the picture really was, and I was amazed!

Pretty crisp, right?

Now the most important function for me to be familiar with is taking continuous action shots. Unfortunately, I was home alone looking out on a very inactive backyard.

Hmmmm…where could I find a cooperative action model. Someone willing to work with me…

Okay, Oreo wasn’t exactly willing. But he said he’d humor me as long as he was paid well with treats.

I already knew this camera would take better action shots than my old one because the manual says it can record 10 images per second! I took Oreo into the backyard with me and told him to stay…

COME!

(My daughter Ashleigh says he looks like a bunny here.)

Ooooh, the agony of running...

Now, this camera has a tracking feature I can activate. It automatically tracks the nearest subject to the screen. I decided to try it out, figuring the focus would be even sharper. Okay, Oreo. Come!

Yuck! They're so blurry! I wonder if I'm doing something wrong? I’ll have to investigate this more later.

Meanwhile, I moved on to testing the differences between the AUTO, AUTO+ and MACRO settings. When I think MACRO I think flowers. So I took three pictures, one with each setting, of my purple petunias (which despite our massive heat wave and my brown thumb, have continued to flourish). I honestly could not find any real difference in picture quality between them. 

AUTO

AUTO+

MACRO

But I found a HUGE difference in the quality of images I cropped. Here's the original shot I took of my mother-in-law's day lily:

And here it is zoomed in and cropped. Check out the awesome detail! It must be the higher pixels.

This will come in handy when I have to take shots further away from the action and I need to crop them later.

Overall, I’d say Operation: Hijacking the Camera has been a success. Saturday is the big day. The first soccer scrimmage of the season. Wish me luck with MY new camera! Bwa, ha, ha!

All Photographs © Holly Bowne

Up, Up & Away

My hubby Chris had a business trip to Germany not too long ago. On the day he was leaving, he studied the clock and informed me, “It’s about 5:30 p.m. now. We need to make it to the airport by 8:15 p.m. at the latest. That should give us just enough time to get there and back before I have to leave.”

“Get where?” I asked.

“Howell.”

“Howell?! Why do you want to drive all the way to Howell right now?” (Just for the record, the city of Howell is a good 45-minute drive from our house.)

“To get pictures of the hot air balloons taking off,” he said with a grin.

The city of Howell hosts a Hot Air Balloonfest every summer. We’ve only gone once before, but it was pretty amazing. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked, doubtfully.

“Yup,” he said, gathering the camera equipment.

You see, Chris got a new camera--er, I mean I got a new camera. It’s a Sony SLT-A65 and it ROCKS!! I keep saying “I” in an attempt to eventually psych him into thinking that it really is MY camera.

Up until he bought this particular one, every other camera he’s bought over the years has been as a gift for me. Unfortunately, I admit it; I’ve never been particularly good at sharing them. I think Chris just got tired of my selfishness, so he went out and bought himself this new-and-WAY-improved version of mine. It’s so phenomenal!

We both love taking photographs! While I’m not a professional, I enjoy playing one on vacations and at my kids’ sporting events. And if I’m being totally honest, I also enjoy the ecstatic appreciation I get from fellow team parents whenever I share the awesome shots I’ve managed to get of their kids in action at said sporting events.

I’ve been so busy though, I haven’t had a chance to really try out the new camera. Chris, however, has been playing around with it for months now. He promised he’d share as we journeyed to the Balloonfest.

He didn’t.

Probably getting even with me for all those times I wouldn’t share (even though he claims that wasn’t the case.) Says he simply got caught up in taking photographs. Like this awesome shot!

And this…

Check out the super clarity he captured using the…er, MY 200mm zoom lens!

 My son’s final high school soccer season starts in another month. If I don’t get my hands on that camera soon, and learn how to use it properly, Chris will be taking all the cool action shots during the games. Then he'll be getting all my coveted accolades from grateful soccer parents. Call me a pouty baby if you want, but I cannot have this!

Somehow, some way--even if I must resort to subliminal messages while he sleeps--that new camera will be mine. Stay tuned. Bwa, ha, ha!


Photographs © Chris (Sigh. Not Holly. Sigh even bigger.) Bowne