Fall Color

A few shots from the weekend:

My girl suffers from red eyes, but the new camera fixes it before I even see the picture. Even close up, it passes the test.
The start of this weekend's race.
My boy finishes his run.
Out my window, fall is here.

New cameras?

My brother just put up some shots from his new camera, so I feel obligated to show what the new Nikon will do too. I started without zoom, added full optical zoom which claims to give me a shot 3.5 times closer.
Then I maxed out the optical zoom which brings me 4 times closer.

I also cropped the image in the camera to see how close I could get, and compare that shot to one taken close up without zoom for clarity.Oh, that's where it went.

One tough week

I just looked at my last post and realized it has been a while since I have been able to sit down and think. Maybe if things settle down around here I will have more to say. For the moment, we are running from one thing to another. The ceilings are done, but now it is time to paint. We are getting bids on a new furnace. We may need to blow more insulation into the attic. Somewhere we need to find someone to blow the water out of the sprinkler system before it freezes and breaks the pipes. Yesterday I did find someone to keep our Shadow when we go away for Thanksgiving with the family.

On top of everything else, and really setting it all aside, we spent more of the last week in doctors offices than is reasonable. I forgot to mention in the list of truly important things which cannot be set aside such as getting kids to and from school with lunches and homework in hand, taking said lunches to school for those cute little darlings who leave without them, and transporting them to the sporting events of the season. If it is fall, it must be cross country, the running kind. Next season is winter so it will be skiing. Lots of fun.

This morning, it was cold enough for frost. Rather heavy frost for the first week of October, but then I guess that is what happens when we move so far north. It was pretty right until it was on the windshield of the car and my girl did not go out early enough to warm it up and melt it. I let her take the easy way out and drive another car since I bring it home. I remind her that when she is driving herself, a little more planning ahead will be in order. I will not let her have the one in the garage just because she slept in. I will be attempting to locate those ice scrapers too.

Party time

Saturday was a busy day. We started the morning with a visit to Wild Walls for a birthday party. What better place to celebrate with a child who I am constantly telling to get down from whatever he is climbing. Three friends joined us for the fun and they attempted various ascents of the walls.

Fortunately for all involved, these ascents came complete with a belayer who kept an eye on the kids and a firm hand on the rope for safety.
Here is my boy at the top of the beginner ascent. It comes without marks on the handholds and they can go up any way they want on the easy grips.
Here he is attemping a more difficult marked climb which changes slope on the way up. They worked hard to build a fun place to play. I think we will be going back again soon.

Of course, the same skills apply wherever you are, even if you do not have the assistance of a belay from the ground. I believe here he is working on his hill climbing skills for his cross country race which starts shortly.
It is a small league, and the racers are divided by grade level. Here the fourth graders prepare to start.
Here he comes down the hill on his second lap. The total distance was a mile. He placed second among the boys.

Old and new

Frame #13394 from the next most recent camera shows these two beauties, my first camera and the most recent addition to my collection of cameras. Over the years I have used many and varied cameras. This one comes closest to my all time favorite, the Canonet GIII 17 QL which was stolen out of my car in Eureka, California many years ago. It had all the fun of an SLR without the weight. I could focus it myself (before the days of auto focus) and I could let it choose how to take pictures or set the shutter speed and aperture myself. Other than focusing, this camera lets me set things myself if I want.

There is nothing like the simplicity of the old days, when Mom and Dad bought me the Instamatic 124. I have not seen film for it in years. It was the perfect kid camera of the time, a cartridge loaded with film just dropped in ready to shoot. Kids today just do not understand about exposing film and paper to light, since their "film" is a memory card and the prints just fly out of the printer.

I remember the smelly darkroom in photography class in junior high school, before it became middle school and they sent us to the high school for ninth grade. I guess kids today have different memories. Taking pictures and printing them sure is a lot easier. Taking good ones still requires the same eye, but the cameras have changed so much that the book now outweighs the camera.