New Imaging Gadget

I absolutely still love my Nikon P900. I've had it for five years and it's travelled to many countries and taken a major chunk of my photographs during this time. Yet, it is way too big and conspicuous to tote around easily. 

I have been considering a smaller travel zoom camera for quite some time. Ordinary phones can take fantastic pictures nowadays but for a real adventure, something with a bit of zoom is mandatory. 

Best Buy in Surrey had a visitor today.  It was me. I saw a price drop of $30 on a Canon SX740 HS. I've held off buying one as I figured this model is well past being cutting edge. Perhaps, a new replacement will be forthcoming, I reasoned.  Ah, life is short. At least it's too short to keep waiting on something I wanted to give a try. 

The following two images were just taken from my balcony.  I had to figure out which button to press!  Although the demure camera's 40X zoom is far shorter than my trusty old P900, the convenience of the new little camera will make up for some of the limitations.  To me, a zoom lens is more important than pristine picture quality for it allows for otherwise impossible images. Notice the SkyTrain bridge and the visible support structure in these two images taken from the same spot.

 

I was able to copy images directly onto my phone, so in turn, I was able to upload them to Flickr instantly.  Canon's Android app seemed marginally up to that task.

For the Birds?

I am sure that people in the world produce billions of pictures every day. This differs greatly from when I was growing up and photos were mainly for special occasions and trips. A camera is available in just about everyone's pocket today because of smartphones. 

Do you ever use yours as a tool? I remember the first time I ever thought of a strictly utilitarian image. I was at a doctor's clinic and needed a quick way to jot down office hours. Being without a pen and paper, I just took a photo of the sign. Now, of course, I often use my phone camera rather than making notes. 

In today's case, we were in the Playa del Carmen Walmart. Most of the vegetables needed no translation. However, I knew that I needed to look these up when I had an extra moment.

 

I still am not sure if these are primarily for birds or people.

Photoshop Elements

Day 127 - Every single image that a camera captures can be improved. Depending on the intended purpose, it may require a little touchup or some major manipulation. I've been using Snapseed on my phone and tablet for a few years now.

Last night, I decided I may enjoy getting back to image editing on a PC. The HD screen of our new Acer is huge and it will allow for more detailed corrections. So, I ordered Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements online. Even though I've been retired for more than five years, I am still entitled to their discount for students and teachers. Some teachers can never seem to stop giving advice, whether welcomed or not. At least that's what I see when I look in my mirror.

I thought had no new image files with which to play. Then, I remembered I snapped a couple of pictures on a walk this afternoon. I didn't bring my camera so I had to use my phone. Jay and I got a little exercise by a hike through the neighbourhood. We are fairly close to the original downtown area of Kuala Lumpur. Several streets away, some old buildings date back a hundred years. Most are pretty well maintained but there are a few in various stages of dilapidation.



I hadn't intended to use these photos in my blog today, but they are a nice example of how I'm going to focus on being subtle. There are so many bells and whistles in this 2020 version, I could get easily carried away. There are nearly too many options! I even found an 'open-a-closed-eye' tool for those group photos when someone blinks at the wrong moment. I will literally never be able to trust a photograph again.

My 61.84 GB of Flickr Data

I have many more than many others. As it turns out, there are about 475 for every year I've lived. I have been around for six decades.

Yet most of my photos are from the last fifteen or so years. The advent of digital imaging changed everything. Probably in your pocket at the moment, you have the means to take a photograph. It is surprising how few we take. Images could help us to remember not only people but the things with which we are surrounded.

What's a Canfor?

I must admit that I loved playing with photographic negatives as a kid. I had an old darkroom enlarger when in high school although I don't have a single print as evidence of those days. I thought that saying I dodged and burned made me sound really cool.

Employing exotic techniques seems so simple today on my tablet. A few swipes can alter an image nearly beyond the limits of one's imagination. Initially I didn't like how this colour shot turned out. It was easy to turn off the distracting hues and subsequently blur everything except the foreground.


This is just a few steps from our apartment. The tracks run through downtown New Westminster along side the Fraser River. This is a working system with kilometer-long trains. Today, the whole length of cars on this particular load was filled with cut, Canfor lumber. How very representative of British Columbia! I'd much rather transport this natural product through town than coal or petroleum products destined for export.

A Flurry of Old Images Forecast

I moved a great deal of data off my MS OneDrive. The only folder left contains about 13 GB of old pictures.

I purchased my first digital camera in 2002 but didn't start using Flickr to archive my images for another three years. In the first few years, I used to judiciously back up my photos and remember burning 8 GB to a DVD ROM. Then, at one point, it was all uploaded to the cloud. I also spotted a few folders which contained trips which might not have been added to Flickr in their entirety.

Yesterday, I sort of, by accident, discovered Snapseed to edit images. I find it much more professional and easier to use that my former favourite, image editing app called Aviary. A delightful consequence of these two, unrelated events is that I can now peruse the old files and edit interesting ones never posted. As a result, they can sit on Flickr for sharing too.


This picture was taken on November 11, 2012. The city of Colombo, Sri Lanka is in the background. I think these young men were in some sort of training exercise running along this beach in Mt. Lavinia to the south.

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.

For Eileen and Barbara

There was something quite comforting about sliding physical photographs into actual envelopes for mailing.



Last night, I uploaded a photo in order to have several 5x7's made at London Drugs. I can hardly remember when I last printed photos there or anywhere. The copies are of one picture used in this blog on June 7th. The third picture from the bottom on that page shows the two couples we met during the 8:00 PM standard dining on our recent cruise.

The photograph is a suitable memento of our fine dining experience. We were able to send email to Bob and Megan, a father and daughter from NY. Eileen and Barbara, also from NY, were friends who had much cruising experience together. As both of the lovely ladies had long ago sworn-off email and technology, we now find ourselves needing to become reacquainted with the post office.

Writing out cards and addressing envelopes reminded me a little of school work, but in a good way.

Fifteen Thousand

I have over 15,000 images on the Flickr photo site.

Okay, that sounds like a lot but you have to remember I've been uploading for more than a decade. Also, as it stores images for my blog, it contains hundreds of screen captures and non-picture graphics. The image above shows six which were added to my stream today. Click the image above to visit the site. From there, one can check out albums or search for specific items.

Nothing to Say

I really should have a few general interest topics available to add when I don't feel like saying much. Of course, something has to be posted at my eJournal and images each day.

I'm at the point now, where I have been uploading digital images to Flickr for a whole decade. I will just find and post my uploaded daily picture from October 1, 2005.


Okay, ten years was quite a while ago. I no longer have that computer table, monitor, webcam, nor the fish tank. Oh, incidentally, I don't have the fish anymore either. The halogen lamp is on my bedside table.

Showing One's Age

Humans are creatures of habit. Perhaps that is why reminiscing is a natural aspect of growing old.

I find it interesting that this propensity seems to extend to production choices in media. As a kid I knew sudden black and white in a movie indicated something in a scene from the past. It was a common cliche, a shortcut in storytelling. I don't think that is so prevalent today as we gave up on b&w before many people were born. The general population no longer has an innate sense of history connected to the lack of colour.

Similarly today, I was listening to Meghan Trainor's Dear Future Husband on my phone. (I blame Google Play for having it there rather than a conscious choice I made.) I noticed the use of crackle and hiss as a means to indicate past thoughts. It is funny how we can count on previous technologies to reinforce things that are now past.


Even still digital photography is affected by our knowledge of film. In this photo, I added a bit of vignetting around the corners with a photo editor. The brash, side-to-side clarity of modern cameras make some images seem a bit too jarring. We feel comfortable seeing photos with darkened corners. That's how they were for most of our lives.

Cool, eh?

In Time for a BC Summer

As a youth, my neighbourhood friend, Susan used to say, "The one with the most toys at death wins!" I fear I'm pretty far behind most people nowadays, but today I did run to buy a "travel zoom" camera. I figure as though I deserve a new gadget. It wasn't long ago that I tried to convince myself that a smartphone would be enough for image-capture nowadays.

After a vacation travelling in the Near East and staying for a winter in Puerto Vallarta, I became increasingly frustrated by the lack of zoom capability. I wanted to avoid a large camera because carrying around a lot of equipment is no fun. I checked out the offerings of the category and decided on the Nikon S9900. I wanted a 30x zoom, GPS capability, and NFC transfer capability for editing and uploading on my Android tablet.

I do wish the camera was being sold in the Canadian market in silver, but I couldn't justify the extra costs of buying one in the US market. Black is sophisticated, right? Today, I went to London Drugs and asked to price match an online sale at Broadway Camera.

My new camera has a lot of manual adjustments with which I will be able to play. More importantly, the zoom should make my shots of ordinary subjects more interesting. An initial test of a new camera is always from my balcony in New Westminster, BC. I pointed the Nikon down the river towards the Fraser Surrey Docks on the opposite shore. My wide angle is first and then I zoomed. Cool. This is going to be fun.

Caution: Heavy Editing Ahead - Day 131

My morning walk had a purpose today. All winter, I've enjoyed walking around the streets of Puerto Vallarta's Old Town. Surely, getting to know the town has had physical benfits as well. Today, I wanted to return to the apartment with at least 20 images in order to practice working in the Aviary image-editing app on my tablet. I only have my phone as a camera on this trip and I really didn't think I could do much street photography with its mere 8 megapixels and no zoom.

I have come to conclude that good images can have a lot to do with the post-capture processing. I'm really learning that one can make the best of any image file. The old darkroom tricks of highlighting areas of the print, work on screen as well. Here are four with vertical orientation which I substantially improved in just a few minutes.

Pixel Manipulation - Day 129

I appreciate my own inconsistencies.

I used to stridently maintain I never took photos for art's sake. I have always maintained that I snap thousands of photos primarily as a means to document my life. I like being able to see the big and the little of existence. A particular meal I enjoyed or the facade of a foreign hotel seemed worthy of saving.

Sigh. I guess I can contain multitudes. (I'd add the entire Walt Whitman quote, if I could remember it.) Why not use editing software to pursue an emotion?


For example, I find it strange that one may wish to add a non-existent lens flair for added authenticity.


We have all been conditioned by the images we've seen but it is easy to modify a digital file. Describe an era, emotion, or adjective and an image can be made to match. I think I will play around with images as well as making them for the sole utilitarian task of documentation. Am I too old to take up graphic-arts training?

Beam Me Aboard, Scotty - Day 122

No, I'm not talking about THAT type of beaming.

I read that the 'travel zoom' Nikon camera, which I'm contemplating, has NFC. Near Field Communication is the technology that allows two devices to communicate after physical contact is made. The beauty of this, with my future camera, will be transferring images without handling any memory cards or cables.

Wait, I thought, I have two NFC devices in my two Nexus devices! I'd never tried sharing between my phone and tablet. Hearing the chime when touched back to back was a delight. Let's be honest, Bluetooth is a major hassle and the devices need to be paired. Most apps on Android can share data when two devices are bumped via Android Beam which is baked right into the operating system.


I needed a file with which to play. This is the scene looking up the hill from our balcony in Puerto Vallarta.
There's not a single photograph that cannot be improved with a little editing. This may involve slight cropping or something more drastic such as a filter. As I've been using my phone as my only camera for some time, I have become used to modifying my photos and uploading directly to Flickr. That is my big photo storage location. Of course, I can also share in a multitude of different ways; for example, by uploading to Facebook or sending directly by email.

I've been managing all my editing on the little 5" screen. Now that I can bump my images to my tablet, it makes more sense to install a more robust editor on the larger screen. The same methods of sharing will exist. I'm going to see if Aviary meets my needs. If it does then even when shooting on my Nikon, I can make use of the same software. First, I'll NFC directly from the Nikon COOLPIX S9900 to my Nexus 7. From there, the images will escape out into the world.

Looking for a Nikon Product Here - Day 120

This morning I wanted to check inside two stores nearer the other end of downtown Puerto Vallarta. There's a large Lans Department Store and another smaller brand nearby. I was looking to see if either store had received shipments of the new Nikon camera I'm looking to purchase. I could wait until I get back to Canada, but Nikon isn't making my camera of choice available in silver in the Canadian market. It is a poor business decision to not offer Canadians the same products as sold in the rest of the continent! In fact, I think I shall continue with a personal campaign on Twitter until I hear a suitable justification.

The new Nikon S9900 is available in silver in Mexico and the USA but not by @NikonCanada. I really don't understand why.

— DennisSylvesterHurd (@DennisSHurd) March 26, 2015

It was another spectacular day in Puerto Vallarta. Walking down the malecon was a great experience as I listened to new music via my phone and headphones.

Explaining the Future - Day 100

Today, I posted a photo from 1977 on a reunion page on Facebook. The image contained four classmates on our high school senior trip to the New Hampshire coast. Here is a copy of the post:

---

This is Flashback Friday!

Here's a photo with Fred, Carol, and Lori taken on our class trip in 1977. What ever happened to Marty Wiggins?

BTW / Try to imagine how you would have told your 18 year old self to smile because the picture would be shared on something called Facebook when you were 55! LOL

---

I was intrigued with the time-traveling aspects of being able to give advice to one's younger self.

"Okay, young Dennis you should take a lot, lot more pictures. Make sure you always take a camera with you, everywhere, so you can take hundreds and hundreds of photographs. Not just pictures of big events but also of everyday things.

I know hundreds sounds like a lot. Film and developing is a little expensive and eventually cameras won't need film ... but ...

Well, because by the time you get old it will be very easy to share them with all the people you know now and also many of the people you will meet over your lifetime.

Um .. that's because in the future cameras will have little screens where you see the picture and then you can copy it to any computer.

Yeah, by then ... you know like the Atari, well, everyone will have one or more but they will do more than let you play games. They are smaller so you can carry them around and fold them up, TV part and all. They will get all sorts of information and stuff from the Internet.

Oh, ... wait. Forgot that wasn't around. The Internet like when every single computer that everybody has will be able to be connect together always, even without wires. So, businesses and people will all run applications like web sites and Facebook and tell each other what they're doing right at the time. And you will be able to Google, I mean ... search for things. Almost anything.

Um, Facebook? It's like, well, it is like your own newspaper where everyone else can see what you type and the pictures you put and the things you like. There will be millions and millions of people from all over the world who join it.

It doesn't really matter where they are because people can be online anytime. Even with their phones.

Oh wait. Telephones will get really small, like a deck of cards, and fit in your pocket and they have a screen just like a television. All computers have really thin little screens too and even TV's get really big but thin.

Anyway, about phones. They'll not just be phones. In fact, most people will do other stuff rather than calling on them. On the screen you will be able to do stuff just like you can do on a computer. No not just words and pictures. You can watch video, but then it will not be on tape, but saved online. Well, computers and the Internet have all sorts of places to save stuff. More stuff than you can imagine. I don't really know where exactly. But like even music will just play from somewhere, like, automatically when you push a button. Well I mean press the button on the screen. People can put things from their phone back to the Internet too.

Oh, and those phones will take most pictures and record video too. But if you take pictures now on paper, they will be able to be scanned someday. I mean you can put them into a machine that will make them so you can save them on the all that extra space on the Internet. After that, a picture can be shown on the screens of phones or computers anywhere.

Okay, never mind all the complicated stuff, just take lots of pictures. Okay?"

We Only Pass This Way Once - Day 99

Life is more than beautiful sunsets.

I have to admit that pasting Puerto Vallarta sunsets all over the Internet has been gratifying, though. Please, forgive me for the small indulgences.


I am so in the mood to get back to real photography in a more meaningful way. As experts will tell you, your best camera is the one you have with you. I have had just my phone's camera for years. No one has to tell me that I can work miracles with anything. Modesty has never been a character flaw.

If anyone takes a sufficient number of images, then a few are bound to turn out well. Most of my own photos document my own life. When I capture an image, I feel as though I have somehow obtained ownership of that moment. Then, I am able to share it or take a glance back at it from any future environment.

I walk around Old Town Puerto Vallarta almost every day. I drink in the sights. Most images of the streets around me exist only in my head. Lately, I've noticed the lens on my mobile phone is not up to the task of catching the varied shapes, colours, and textures which I see about me. As soon as I am back in New Westminster at the end of next month, I shall run to buy a Nikon S9900. I look forward to a small camera with just enough zoom to take more interesting street shots.

They Took My Kodachrome Away - Day 78

For a couple of years I've relied on just the camera in my phone to take pictures. Even on overseas trips, I have managed with just the tiny little lenses on my Nexus devices.

In many ways the ease and capabilities of mobile devices have surpassed those of stand-alone cameras. For example the ability to shoot, edit, and directly upload to Flickr or social media has sort of spoiled me. I find small device software is flexible and oft updated. One can easily create a panorama or even a 360 degree image with a phone nowadays. Even completely competing imaging apps such as Instagram extend the concept of what a photograph is.

However, for all the benefits, I am strongly considering going back to a single-purpose camera. The major thing I miss is zoom capabilities. I have sort of gotten used to seeing life in its full frame version. Yet, there is no denying, on any given day, I miss great images. This happens because I cannot precisely get just the part of the world I want to be in the shot.


I'd be nice to get closer to the guy selling prawns from the back of his red pickup without getting off the balcony.
I have discovered that picking a camera nowadays requires profound analytical skills. Each manufacturer produces dozens of different products. Many overlap but some have unique capabilities. It has taken some time to narrow down the offerings to create a smaller, more focused list. I had to check through characteristics that I desired. Luckily, February is a perfect time for this research as cameras are now released annually. Unlike cars, the newest models are announced near the beginning of the year and become available in the spring. This means I have had to rely on old reviews and explore what changes will be made in the newer, replacement versions.

First, everybody seems to now offer a solid 30x optical zoom in a small, non-bridge format. Some have dubbed it the travel zoom category. (See, there is even entirely new vocabulary to learn!) I definitely do not want something approaching the size of an SLR. If lugging along the camera is a chore, then it's apt to stay unused. Additionally, I didn't closely consider any of the rugged, sports models although some looked pretty sleek and cool. I am not a suba-diver needing underwater shots, but more importantly, the zoom levels offered in this category were not sufficient.

So the list of possibilities got a lot shorter and most of what remains looked remarkably similar. Although connecting a camera to computer is easy, I think I would like to seamlessly connect to my phone via WiFi. I can keep the ease-of-use advantage of uploading images this way. Most companies are starting to integrate WiFi and NFC, but that narrowed the list somewhat.


No single camera on the market provides exactly what I would like. To me, that seems a bit odd. For six years my photos have had GPS information included. I can't see why in 2015 that function isn't offered on every single camera made. In addition, I noted that a retro look seems all the rage. Many of my selected camera models are offered in silver and black. I sort of like that. Colour is not important to a camera's function. I guess the traditional look might be preferred by people, like me, who are returning to a stand-alone camera.

Here's my short list.

Canon PowerShot SX710 HS

Nikon COOLPIX S9900

Olympus SH-2

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS50K

I would absolutely love any advice and comments. If you have knowledge of this market, please share!

Dark Days, Indeed!

One of the reasons I have 10,883 photos on Flickr at the moment is because I decided long ago to try to take a photo every day. I cannot say that I have a perfect record. Probably around 90% of the days between July 1, 2005 and today have been documented. This adds up to around 3000 photos.



In looking back, January 11, 2006 was a Wednesday. I must have been driving back from an afternoon class at BCIT. I was sort of complaining about how early it gets dark. Not so suprisingly, I was thinking the very same thing today. It's good to see there's continuity to life.