Sunday, December 22, 2013

Mom's New Camera (Which Means a TON of Photos)

Mom's new camera arrived on Monday, she's been a crazy photo-taking person ever since.  For all of you who have been asking, Mom got a Nikon Coolpix P520.  According to Mom (because, really, what do I know about cameras?), it's a 'compact' (smaller than a DSLR) camera with a fixed lens (as opposed to being able to change lens like a DSLR), a 42x optical zoom (that Mom says would require her to use a tripod to use the full zoom range and is NOT why she bought the camera), takes 18 mega-pixel photos (although she can take smaller photos if she is so inclined), and most importantly for Mom, has all the features of a point-and-shoot, but also has all the manual/semi-manual settings.  These settings are why Mom bought the camera as she has decided that since she spends so much time and effort taking pictures of us, she wants to learn how to take advantage of shutter-speed settings, and aperture settings, and ISO settings and whatnot.  Since she only sorta knows what those things are, our Granny and Grandpa have generously bought her some books so she can learn "how to take good photos" as Mom say.

Here is Mom's camera:

For those of you who are going to ask, the little plastic tram car with the green windows in the background was Mom and Dad's wedding cake topper.
Anyhoo, even though Mom doesn't actually know how to use any of the settings (I'd show you a picture of the dial with the settings, but trust me - this post has so many pictures that you'll thank me later for not adding one more picture of Mom's camera), she is (and I quote) "deliriously happy" with her new toy.

BTW, you might want to 'biggify' these photos to get the full effect.

The very first picture she took was of us.  Of course.  I mean, she got the camera so she could take better pictures of us - what else would her first photo be of?

"Hey Fi, how many pictures do you think we're going to have to sit for?" "Abs, Mom has a new toy, so it could be in the hundreds.  But pictures means treats.  Trust me."

As soon as Mom got back from work the next day, she decided to see what sort of photos she could get.  Well, lemme tell ya, after seeing the first set of photos, I'm totally sold on the new camera.  Why, you ask?  Well, for the first time EVER, we have positive proof that Abby is an alien.

An antenna coming out of the top of her head!  I knew it!  Abby is an alien!  Not that I ever doubted it, mind you...
Heehee.

Mom also took some pictures of us in the late afternoon sun because, well, she could.

"How many pictures did you say we would have to sit for, Fi?"  "*sigh*"

Take all the photos of me you want, Mom!  Remember, I'm The Good Dog!  Santa, you're paying attention, right?
Of course, we were concerned about action photos.   So, Mom decided to see how well the camera would take frisbee pictures (keep in mind, Mom is still using the 'auto' setting - she is still trying to find some of the sports settings, and has yet to find and use the 'pet portrait setting, and yes, there is a setting for pet portraits, although as you'll see in a bit, Mom seems to be doing pretty well on her own!)

Doodle Launcher is clearly working fine!

Yes, that is snow you see coming down - we had several snowy days this week.

Powder shot!

While the camera takes great photos, it still hasn't improved Mom's frisbee throwing skills!

See, I get some air on occasion!

With the picture size and the zoom, with a combination of zooming and cropping, Mom can get good, close-in action shots!

The Doodle Launcher continues to perform as expected!

Even I got into the Doodle Launcher.

Crazy doodle!

So yeah, even on the very basic 'auto' setting, frisbee action photos are a go!

As I mentioned above, we had several snowy days this week and one night when Mom took us out, the sky was amazing - clouds, a bright moon behind the clouds, and snow coming down.  Mom dashed back inside and grabbed her camera, and even though she was still using the 'auto' settings, she got this Really Cool photo:

The sky really did look like that - Mom didn't do any color enhancements or anything!
The backyard light was on and Mom used the flash (which is why the snowflakes look like bright stars), and while the picture is kind of 'flat' (Mom says she has an idea why it is 'flat' but doesn't know how to set her camera up yet to give some 'depth' to the photo) it is still really cool!

Mom was so enamored with how the snowflakes looked like stars that she got another picture on another night to see if she could get a similar effect.  She's obviously still got a lot to learn (like bringing out a tripod...), but she's quite pleased with her initial attempts.


Okay, enough scenery photos.  Mom, you got this camera to take pictures of us, right?  So let's see more doggie photos!

One of the 'creative photography' books Mom has been reading suggests trying new angles.  So Mom spent a lot of time lying/sitting in the snow to get some 'unique' photos of us.

Queen of the Mountain (or hill, as the case may be).
The "dog's eye view".
One of Mom's personal favorites:

Frisbee dog!
Mom wanted to see if she could get some "dog's eye view" action photos.  She'll readily admit she's got a long way to go with these, too, but again, she's pleased with her initial results.

"How are you going to throw the frisbees when you are on the ground, Mom?"

"Seriously.  I brought this back to you.  You should throw it!"

"I'm running Right At You!"

Mom also wanted to get some head shots.  And since she had a bag of treats with her, we were (mostly) happy to oblige her.



 






Mom was really impressed with the camera on this next photo.


Yes, I'm pretty in this photo (as usual), but why was Mom so impressed?  Well if you biggify it (Mom cropped it below so you don't have to biggify it), you will see Mom reflected in my eye.  (Yes, she's raising her arm with a treat in her hand to get my attention, but still pretty cool, huh?)

Mom's looking at me, and I'm looking at her!

Another of Mom's favorites (BTW, one of the books she's reading suggests that when you pull pictures off your camera, you immediately 'cull' the photos, look at them, and then 'cull' again, so you've got a manageable number of pictures to work with.  Mom is following that advice and STILL has a ton of photos.)

"Out of bully sticks?!?  Noooo!"
I could show you about a hundred more photos on this same theme.   But Mom has also tried playing around with Photoshop to see what sort of 'effects' she might want to use.

Black and white with a hint of color.

'Tweaking' the 'color curve' (whatever that is) with Abby.

Trees in our yard in black and white.
Mom also tried to get some icicle photos.  Another area for improvement, but we've got a lot of winter ahead of us!

The first look at the icicles.  Ho-hum.

Zoomed in.  (Biggify for best results.)

'Macro.'
So yeah, Mom LOVES her new camera (if you couldn't tell), and she plans on putting some serious effort into learning about her camera and how to take photos, both from a technical point of view and from an artistic point of view.  Needless to say, stay tuned for all of Mom's efforts!

We, on the other hand, want to make sure Mom doesn't lose focus (a little photography joke there!) on the most important subject - us!

 

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

15 comments:

The Army of Four said...

Those are super photos! ...but then, we're in the "can't get enough pix of you two" camp! Congrats to your mom on the new camera -- and we LOVE that really cool one of the tree!!!!
Play bows,
Zim

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Woo look resigned to the fakht that woo are mere props in your mom's world!

*SIGH!*

Bring your snow and I'll grant woo asylum!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: I'VE GOT MUD!!!!!!

The Adventures of the LLB Gang said...

OMD...the possibilities for close up snow zoomies and doodle launching are now endless!!

Happy Photography!!! We know our Mama always has her camera close at hand!!

Smileys!
Dory

Shawn said...

Amazing pictures!!!

Murphy said...

Your mom is doing really well and getting some wonderful pics!

Your Pals,

Murphy and Stanley

Berts Blog said...

My Vickie really likes her nikon so she is real interested in seeing how your new nikon works cause she is thinking of upgrading. So far, she is pretty impressed. But then, who could not get a good picture with you two as models......PS, we are not going to Primary Childrens Medical Center tomorrow. WE still hope to get to meet your human soon. but the weather and the roads have kinda put a kink in things for us.
Love
Bert

Molly the Airedale said...

What great pictures! Make sure you girls insist on a TON of treats because we know that you're going to be superbusy posin'!

Love ya lots♥
Mitch and Molly

bichonpawz said...

AWESOME photos!!! Your mom will love the Nikon!! Seriously...get ready girls...you are in for full time photography!! xo Chloe and LadyBug

Laika said...

I think your mom and her camera can be really proud of all the photos. They are great.

Frankie Furter and Ernie said...

WOW girrrrrls... you are gonna be havin 87 Bazillion photo ops now.
Glad your mom is so Happy with her new Flashy Beast.

Two French Bulldogs said...

Gorgeous! You will be tortured for sure now
Lily

The Daily Pip said...

The pictures are are really amazing! My assistant has had her camera a few years and still uses the auto setting most of the time. One of these days, she claims she will read the manual.

Ruby

The Daily Pip said...

The pictures are are really amazing! My assistant has had her camera a few years and still uses the auto setting most of the time. One of these days, she claims she will read the manual.

Ruby

The Oceanside Animals said...

hello fiona and abby its dennis the vizsla dog hay wow that is sum kamra if it kan eeven deetekt abbys preevyusly undetektabul radar dish on her hed!!! hay abby can yoo yooze that dish to order pizza??? mary krismas!!! ok bye

Duncan said...

I like the action shot where your ears are flying! Looking forward to more pics with the new camera!!!