December 22, 2013:  Hayward Shoreline and Solstice Sharing at Home with Kevin

More attempts to capture sunset lighting that left me salivating for a DSLR!  (See last post.)

There are strong pros (beauty, filmic quality, good for very controlled shots like interviews) and cons (sound, workflow, not good for spontaneous shots that require a lot of refocusing) to using DSLRs for video, though, and I also have to upgrade my video camera (Canon GL2, still DV).   I do not have funds for both (really I don't have funds for even one, ha ha), so what to do...

I spent over an hour on the phone with B&H in NYC this past Sunday, and given my uses and my skill level, we narrowed my search to two choices:  a Canon 7D DSLR or a Canon XF100 HD camera.  (They estimate I'll have about 5 more years before I have to straddle myself with 4K headaches, since so few consumers have anything to watch 4K on, and most cannot perceive the difference.)

Dad, however, nearly sold me on the Pentax K3.  --until I started reading about the enhanced video features on the newer Canon *70*D.  But it has a more "plastic-y" body than the 7D.

If anyone has feedback on any of these cameras, do shoot me an email!  One thing I learned from B&H is, a full sensor DSLR is NOT the way to go for video because the aspect ratio will be off.  Who knew?!?  This is good news, because the next sensor size down means lower cost camera body.  :)

Hayward Shoreline as the sun set, 1 day after Solstice:

I made these pants for Kevin as one of his gifts!  :)

The fabric is from Australia.  I found it at a speciality quilt shop in Niles, California in Fremont.  Those are snakes squiggling among the hypnotic didgeridoo  dots.  We like our slithery serpent friends!

SOLSTICE HAIKU

Hitting the bottom of

the pool, we make our way back

towards the light.

December 17, 2013: Alameda Marsh at Sunset with Kevin

Sunsets are where I am really feeling the limits of my camera, a Powershot SX230HS.  I have manual controls, but it just does not have a big enough sensor to capture the range and sensitivities of color that I see around me.  I have had 2 years with this wonderful little camera;  it is so light and easy to take on hikes and travel with, I can hook it on my fanny pack when I go biking, it has a great zoom and does very well in low light.   (I bought it for the mosques and cave churches of Turkey and was very happy with the results.  I even got reasonable shots in Carlesbad Caverns, which is quite dark.) 

But after 6 months of not allowing myself to shoot anything on any auto setting,

 I might be ready to graduate to a DSLR!  :)

December 14, 2013: Lake Chabot, by Myself

A few nice shots at the Magic Hour and as the sun went down...