Picture Samples

In the past week I have taken about 800 pictures. Most of the time I use the automatic setting. However there are a few times that I've ventured beyond letting the camera make all the decisions for me. To keep the flash from being used I sometimes put the camera in Program Mode. There is a way to turn on the flash in the menu settings but the previous way is quicker.

For the football pictures I used the automatic setting. It was a sunny day. I put the camera in multi-picture taking mode.

These four pictures are in multi picture taking and action mode. Check out the freeze frame in this picture below. That is more the camera than me. I'm just lucky to be pointed in the correct direction.

I was following this young kid down the field using the multi shot in the automatic mode. The pictures below show another example of how the multi-pic taking mode works. Just hold the button down and hopeful the camera will focus in time to do the shots.

Then there is the look of agony. Yes, the Jr. Quakers ended up being the victims of another shut out. I got some great shots though.

This shot was taken in macro mode used for close up shots.

I was driving to work on evening. I pulled over across the street from Stober's and ripped this one off quickly around 1755 hours.

Action and speed shots give me some hassle still especially in low light situations.

I did not figure out how to capture super fast motion yet. The ladies in the picture are moving very slow.

Team Lansing Derby Vixens. One of the coolest Derby teams in the mid-west and next year the world ! Check them out on the book of face and their web site is www.lansingderbyvixens.com.

I saw this woman working outside of Kewpee.

Squirrel !

What are you staring at?

I like this picture. Unfortunately this is one of the lots that charge $10 for parking during special events like Common Ground, when there is free parking all over the L.

This is from the 2nd floor at Troppo. I do believe the ISO was raised by the camera. There is a elongated exposure time that would make things simplier with a monopod or a tripod.

I definitely used a tripod on this shot.

COW. This is on Jolly road MSU does a lot of stuff in between I-96 and - well I guess all the way up to Grand River.

Does this look like a picture that would be used for a puzzle?

What about this one?

40-150mm Zoom lens was used automatic setting

This is using the 14-45MM lens. I took more but I really don't understand the huge spoiler on the back of the car. I suppose the owner races the car.

The camera takes great pictures. I'm still trying to figure out all those dang settings. I did find a couple of people that said they'll give me some of their knowledge. I have to make time to get me some - knowledge that is. Thanks for checking out my snapshots. ~Melik

I needed (wanted) a new camera...

The digital camera I own is a little Canon PowerShot A530 / 5.0 mega pixels. The lens cover door doesn’t close. Sometimes it doesn’t open. It takes decent snapshots but I want something a little more powerful. I’m going to be on top of the Eiffel Tower for goodness sake.

I went to the Camera Shop - http://www.lansingcamera.com/ - located at 6006 S. Pennsylvania Ave, Lansing, 48911. It was 5:42 PM. The store closes at 6PM on weekdays. I know how annoying it is when you want to close up shop and some newb bursts in messing up your “I want to get the hell out of Dodge” vibe. My desire was just to ask a few questions, test drive a few cameras and realize I don’t have enough money to purchase what I would want for a camera to use on this grand trip. There were a few people printing pictures at a strange looking conglomerate of machines with screens. Suddenly I felt overwhelmed and way out of my league. That is until the exuberant Woody asked how he could help me. I told him I wanted a digital SLR for around $500. He informed me that I won’t be able to get one for that price. However, I was in luck. I braced myself. I actually looked up expecting Terry Hanks of Sundance Chevrolet to pop out of the back room yelling “Have I got a deal for you!” That didn’t happen thank goodness. What did happen was that Woody reached into the display case and told me about a used camera that he ‘just got in’ that he could sell to me for $450. He continued to inform me that the camera came with two lenses. Now I don’t know much but what I do know is that accessories are expensive and I’m getting two lenses to start off with, and that I may be getting something good for my $. Woody figured new with both lenses the camera would be in the neighborhood of $800. I know that a lot of cameras don’t come with any lenses and could cost a lot more. I told Woody that I am ignorant and asked him to show me some stuff with the camera. He said that it was a great camera for a novice and began to show me how to get started. It seemed easy enough to basically put the machine on automatic, wait for the beep – which means it grabbed a focus and push the button. ‘Look ma, I took a picture.’

Woody has a catch phrase. It is ‘I’ll tell you what.’ And with that he said if I buy that camera that he’ll give me a little discount on the memory card. I asked about the foot for a flash. He said ‘I’ll tell you what I have a flash here that I’ll sell you for $???.??’ Then he said that all I needed then was a camera bag to carry it all in. Insert catch phrase here and blammo he gave me a deal on a camera bag. Now there was a counter full of stuff and I turned into a 12 year old boy, with eyes wide, mouth gaping and reaching for my big boy debit card. He told me he would be glad to help me out whenever I came in with any pointers and advice that I would need in the future. Insert catch phrase he handed me a notepad with a case and calculator. Catch phrase again he gave me a pen. Yes, it got a little silly. Another customer stopped what he was doing to watch the spectacle of impulse buyer’s chaos. He nodded approvingly and said I got a good deal. I said either that or I got swindled. That is a lot of money for just coming in to ask some questions and look around. I imagined what images I would be able to capture while I was on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. My heart was racing, my breath was weighted but I was eagerly excited. The time was 6:05 PM when I walked out of the store. I guess I wasn’t an annoying window shopper after all.

I raced to my special lady friend’s house and her son was playing catch with a neighbor kid. Perfect, I thought. I get to test out my new toy. The problem was getting them to stop posing. Soon there was a balance of them playing freely and making sure I got that “cool shot”. It was fun. This is the kind of camera that makes a novice look like they know what they are doing when they get that awesome ‘lucky’ shot.

Soooo I bought a new toy, some kind of digital camera with two types of zoom lenses. An Olympus E-500 EVOLT 8 megapixels. I think it makes me look like I am some kind of picture taking guru. It will definitely make me look like a tourist. I have a month to learn how to use it so I can take great snapshots that no one will want to look at when I return from my trip. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." – Sunset Boulevard

Please don’t go to the Camera Shop and tell them that Melik said that they will give discounts at the counter. However, I do encourage you to check them out if you are shopping for an inexpensive snap shot shooter to very expensive pro equipment, printing needs and equipment.

~Melik

One Month Out

The news for the past week has been mentioning a heightened travel threat in a certain section of the world. Selfishly I do not normally pay attention to these alerts unless they happen to be talking about my back yard. Well this time it mattered because the threat was in an area that I will soon be traveling to. What also struck me as odd was that both of the places mentioned were both of the places that I was going to be visiting very soon. I guess London and Paris are on high alert. Travelers to London and Paris are being warned to be aware. AWARE? I'm already a little uneasy being so far away from home. I've never travelled this far from home as an adult. The travelling that I did as a child isn't even a memory for me.

I tried to calm myself about the notion of ending up in the middle of a suicide bombers chaos while trying to enjoy my first big boy pants excursion to the other side of the world. Then I opened up the 10.4.10 issue of the USA Today and saw a picture of a French soldier standing at the ready outside of the Louvre. I'm not naive enough to think that world travelling does not have its risk. I'm not naive enough to think that my own back yard is an utopia free from any type of violence. However to think that I am going to be purposefully going into a hot bed of activity for a leisure excursion definitely caused me concern.

So what does a sane grown man do? I sent a fearful text message to Mr. Tim Barron. The guy that got me to sign up for this 'holiday'. It simply read: "How much threat of terrorism would cancel our happy trip to Europe?". Mr. Barron's reply was: "It would take a lot more than this!" My response was: " Many moons ago I was supposed to travel with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp throughout Europe - it was cancelled because of terror threats. I WAS HEARTBROKEN". He assured me (assurance through text messages?): "This won't". So I said: "Okey dokey". Then I saw an article online about my same concern. Another spot on the travel itinerary is the Eiffel Tower. Apparently that is a target as well. That's when I decided I should put my feelings on paper / blog / for the world to see...

I wonder how much is a lot. Ugh.

~Melik