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These photos, all taken within 300 meters from my apartment, were brought to you today by the the letter 'Z'. (By the way, it is pronounced as 'zed' not 'zee' here.)

Interestingly, this is also the first letter of the word zoom, as in zoom lens.

The Ole' Second Try

Lately, I have been feeling a bit frustrated having nothing but a smartphone camera.

I am, of course, still mad at myself for destroying my former camera in less than a year. On the bright side, the little, Nikon S9900 did get to record many experiences last winter in Egypt. I had the camera for all of last summer too. So, although I still feel angry that I smashed it on the street in Copenhagen before our recent cruise, I can now convince myself its demise provided a new opportunity.


Yesterday I went over to the Surrey Central Mall on the SkyTrain. I had scoured the Internet for information about the Nikon P900 and figured it was what matched my requirements. It went on sale at Broadway Camera on Canada Day. I haven't seen it selling for less anywhere in US or Canadian dollars. It's a point and shoot but has an incredibly immense zoom.

I brought it home but didn't unpack the box for a few hours. At around the time the shop closes on Sundays, I took out the beast. (It really is hefty compared to my recent cameras.) I put in the camera battery and unwrapped the charging cord. Just like my last one, it charges in-camera via USB which makes a lot of sense when travelling. The on/off switch lit up immediately but the camera was otherwise dead. What? How could I luck out by getting the box with a lemon in it?

I went back to Broadway Camera today and got a new replacement. It did make me a little skeptical but the sales guys said they'd never seen a similar instance. I didn't see any mention of DOA devices on the Internet either. So, I'll chalk it up as a flook. I guess, it gives me something to talk about. I had no plans for today, so I didn't mind returning to Surrey when the mall opens at 10:00 AM.

I hope I can keep this camera for a while. My goal is at least three years!

Shopping for a New One!

Damn, why'd I have to go and break my camera during the first day of our recent cruise vacation!

I can blame no one except myself for the failed juggling act which took place on a street in Copenhagen. My little pride and joy, of course, landed right on its sad little zoom. I enjoyed the Nikon S9900 during the measly single year I had it. I've not even bothered to bring the corpse to a repair shop as I don't want to spend $100 bucks for them to tell me it'd cost $200 to fix it. I humour myself by the thought I got a good deal on it. As well, I feel as though I learned a few important lessons by owning it.

First, I discovered I really like the Coolpix series of Nikon cameras. Also, I now know a GPS feature is an absolute must, but built-in WiFi a lot less so. Lastly and most importantly, I initially prided myself on my dead camera's demure size but 30X zoom. I felt a larger camera would've seemed like overkill. I've always laughed at guys who own a DSLR but leave it at home because of the inconvenience of carrying it around. However, since the accident, it's dawned on me that my former camera probably would not have ended up on the sidewalk had it been slung around my neck on a big strapping ... strap. I still want to avoid a DSLR just for the fact I'd require multiple lenses. Yet, perhaps a bit of bulk is okay. After all, I am a fairly hefty, butch guy.

Now, I so I'm drooling over the web reviews of a Nikon Coolpix P900! I can no longer live with just a smartphone as camera. I have a rather severe case of zoom envy, you see. This beauty would cure that.

Shooting Birds - Day 110

I tried something new today.

My camera has built-in Wifi. This allows me to copy pictures to my tablet without needing to remove the SD card. I can make small edits and then directly upload the results to Flickr. This feature has made my life easier and my photos better. Nikon created a specialized app named, Wireless Mobile Utility. I'm a fair bit disappointed in their lack of support. The Android app has gone for almost a year without an update. It is missing some very basic options such as batch copying of full-size images. I also experience fairly frequent disconnections when moving images to my tablet as well.

Yet, the app does have one other, major feature. Until today I had never taken photos with my S9900 directly from the app. Again, it seems a pretty basic setup which allows only zooming and shutter release. I assuredly expect better from a company such as Nikon.

Today though, I set the camera on some stones beneath the big tree in the garden. We have birds that now rely on our food handouts. There are dozens of ordinary finches which show up and make quite a racket. I love our doves much more. One is here every day and often a couple stop at feeding time. Today, I thought I'd set out the camera and see if I could take a few closeup photographs.

The damn birds didn't cooperate at all! They danced around every side of the tree except in the direction I placed my camera. I stayed inside and managed a half dozen pictures with no or only partial birds. It did encourage me enough to try doing this later though!

Pay Attention to Life's Variety - Day 100

Visually interesting doesn't necessarily mean pretty.

Jay and I went to the edge of the Nile River to see if we could catch a glimpse of a cruise ship leaving the East Bank of Luxor.

We walked south rather than north to the National Ferry Boat. As we came to a path for a clearing by the river, I snapped the picture of a flower on a tree. I'd really not paid attention to this type of tree in the past. It must have been about 20 feet tall, but this flower was hanging down at waist-level.

A bit beyond, we came to the area where people were loading a garbage skow.

All types of images can be visually interesting.

A Sip, A Blue Hat, and A Phone Call - Day 88

Things are now into a relaxing, if somewhat pleasantly boring, routine in Luxor. We are almost exactly halfway into our five months here.

I promised myself that I'd continue to carry my camera on outings, even though things seem a little less exotic than when we first arrived. I find that if I can capture a few moments everyday, they may provide an essence of where I am. After all, photography can be about sharing. Often this is with others but a good picture can also be shared with oneself when far away in either distance or years.

These three images were taken when we went across the Nile to the East Bank today.

Our Oft-Trod Road - Day 56

We are pretty lucky to have chosen a great place to stay for the winter sight-unseen. The Villa Diletta is about a 10-minute walk from the public ferry on Luxor Egypt's West Bank.

First, one goes along beside the corniche and then along a dirt road that runs next to the Nile River. After, one small turn on the last road into the Ramla area, gets one to our home for the winter.

We walk the road nearly every day at least once. A few outdoor, garden coffee/shisha establishments dot the river side of the road. Between them, on the empty land, people grow vegetables or let animals graze. On the opposite side of the street, some houses, apartment buildings, and small shops line the road.




(I do so love my Nikon S9900 after managing for a few years by primarily using my phone for photos. These two images were taken from exactly the same spot near the south end of the corniche.)

South of Ramla - Day 32

We have walked the road between the ferryboat and our street in the Ramla area countless times since we arrived. Yet, we'd not trod very far south of our place on the road along the Nile.

Today, we planned for a short morning walk. We went about four kilometers and it gave a really good glimpse into life on the West Bank of Luxor. This is the rural side not far from the mountains that make up the Valley of Kings. Life along the river allows for irrigation and agriculture. The folks along the way were very friendly and welcoming. I am still a little shy of pointing my lens and taking photos of regular folks. It's something I shall try to work on.












I am absolutely pleased with my camera as it allows me to capture much more of life than a mobile phone ever did. I have selected just eleven of the shots to include here. They all reside on Flickr; so if clicked, a larger image may be viewed or downloaded.

I Live Right Here

I really do love my camera. The lens of a smartphone truly was not enough!

I've changed since getting my Nikon Coolpix S9900. I used to take photographs just as a record of my experience. In fact, that is all I thought I would ever want to do.

Now, I think of images as more of a way of seeing something special in all of life's ordinary places. With my camera, I enjoy looking more closely at an environment in which I'd become used to. That makes it seem, all the more, like a gift.










For example, these five images were found within a few minute's walk from my apartment. I have taken them within the last few days. Now, whenever I'm outside, I concentrate much more on our amazing world.

Old Post Office Bldg

Beauty can be 20 feet from one's front door. One just needs to take the time to look around for it.

That's why I deliberately purchased a small camera. I didn't want it sitting on a shelf. My little Nikon fits in a mini-case over my shoulder almost every time I leave the apartment. I hang it on the door knob to ensure I don't forget it.


When I have a camera, I'm much more likely to look around. When I focus on the visual aspects of my surroundings, I often find beauty.

It's All Optics

This is a view of Mount Baker from my balcony today. A hill in Surrey, BC stands between it and me. I can only see the top, so it is snow-clad nearly year round.


I took this a few minutes ago with my little Nikon S9900. Our apartment faces south, south-east but there are no local mountains in this direction!

In fact, Mt. Baker is in the State of Washington. It's probably almost 100 kilometers (60 miles) away as the crow flies. So, I should probably not use the 30x optical zoom.


If I use my camera's wide angle, you'd be hard pressed to see the mountain at all. The reality of the view, as in most things, lies somewhere in the middle.

Tall Shots

Last November, I decided to shoot all my standard images in 16x9 format. It seems to be more useful as I don't intend to capture images which will end up on paper. The wide format has become increasingly normal as all of the screens of my life are also 16x9. However at first, whenever I took a photo in portrait orientation, I thought it looked entirely too tall.

Now to me, even the tall scenes look fine on tablets and when one scrolls as part of the viewing experience. My chosen format can be cropped when there's extra sky or ground. Yet, there are times when the extra height helps in my composition.


I love how the building's old facade was saved and reinstalled at this new condo construction on Columbia Street.

The First and Only

I could never understand why some photographers take so many pictures of flowers. Trying to capture beauty is a noble goal, but honestly, a two-dimensional image can't compete with an actual 3D flower. As well, one cannot smell a computer screen.

Maybe it was just that I never had a camera where I felt comfortable trying to snap macro subjects. I had to put my little Nikon Coolpix S9900 through its paces to get used to it. It seems to do a pretty good job with closeups.

Yet, I probably will never include another entry with only images of flowers, unless I happen to stumble upon some rare orchid in our travels. These are five, simple, boastful plants recently near me in New Westminster.

Tipperary Park Practice

Yes. Today's weather was very different from yesterday's.

It was a nice day to be around New Westminster and Burnaby. In the morning, we drove up to the Langley Farm Market to buy fruit and vegetables. On that trip, we also stopped to drop off bottles at a recycling centre. We keep a fairly large box in the back of the pickup. A fee is collected on the sale of most bottles in BC, except milk jugs. We save up our own bottles and pick up those improperly disposed in our apartment complex. It takes a few minutes of extra time to bring them up for sorting, but it's nice knowing they are being re-used correctly. We got $7.05 in cash too.


Later, I walked up to Tipperary Park. It comprises land near City Hall with an uncovered stream running through it. Getting there is a 3-block, uphill hike.

I am pretty used to wearing my camera with me whenever I leave the house. A camera left in the cupboard is pretty useless and we can't have that! I am enjoying getting used to my Nikon S9900. Pardon, my posting so many images. It's just that practice makes perfect in nearly every endeavor. Shooting and editing images is certainly no exception, so readers might expect to see a lot of photos here for the next few months.

Practice in Westminster Pier Park

I am getting used to my new camera. I've never owned a Nikon Coolpix, so the menus are new to me.

More than that, I decided that every single one of my pictures will be run through an editor before appearing in public. All images can be improved with a little editing, I've always maintained.

My S9900 has built-in NFC, so I can bump it against my Nexus 7 tablet to directly initiate Wifi photo downloads. Once there, I can use the standard Android editor or Aviary to modify a few pixels. I can share or upload to Flickr from the tablet. Then, of course, they'll be available right here.






I walked across Columbia Street and down into the Westminster Pier Park to snap a few images. It is so convenient with the new walkway over the rail tracks! I guess the sun doesn't have to be out when taking pictures.