OK, that's enough!

For some reason, over the last few days, I developed the need for a digital camera to call my own.
Strange, given that I am a poor photographer, despite the fact that the older sibling shoots for a 'leading newsmagazine' and that I really don't take pictures that often. I realised that was because till date, I never had a camera entirely to myself, and had otherwise shot on the photographic equivalent of the Panzer tank...something that takes more than a keen interest to effectively operate. Borrowed F60's with sub-let 50 mm lenses, maybe a 110 mm, a few minutes with a EOS 20D, idle evenings with D1X's and D100's, that was it.

So, After scouring the internet and acquiring the opinions of a few esteemed professionals, I had whittled down the contenders to two- The Canon S3 IS and the Lumix FZ8...both offered compelling performance, excellent features and both had that little 'extra' feature thrown in. For the Panasonic Lumix, it was the ability to shoot RAW data images, always a big, big plus; offset by the noisy NMOS sensor and the Quirky noise reduction software. The S3 IS had everything the FZ8 had, minus the RAW capability; which again was offset by the great CCD sensor(I thought Canon used CMOS), which produces pretty decent images by itself, and the power supply, that uses AA batteries. (quite nothing like your batteries going kaput at the 'decisive moment'...a common cause of hair loss among professional photographers.)

In the end, I decided that going with the RAW capability was not in my best interest, since shooting in RAW takes up a lot of memory, and requires a lot of post-production work in order to make your images work. That takes time. And effort. And is it worth spending 5 to 10 minutes on each picture, even if you're never going t use them again? Moreover, It's not as if i'm producing 16X10" prints, so photo quality has to be perfect for printing. When you buy a Digital Camera, especially an automatic point-and-click variant, you just have to accept that it will never equal a Film camera(at least as of today) or a proper Digital SLR. Having seen professional equipment Nikons and Canons shoot noise-free, crisp pictures at 1600 ISO will make most people think that the same can be achieved by the $200 equivalent as well. That, my friends, is just not going to happen.

So I (Very reluctantly) dumped the Raw shooting Lumix, and went with the Canon S3 IS. Now, the question of buying presented two options-Buy online, and wait for a week, or buy today, and pay more. I gave in to my greed. Who gives a damn if I save $20-30 by ordering online?

To the Accord! (play the Batman 'to the batmobile' sound in your head now)

Canon provides a generous 16 Megabyte SD card with the kit, along with a lens cap(that is sort of loose) and a shoulder strap, as well as the de rigeur CD-ROM, manuals, and cables. I got myself a Sandisk Extreme II 60X 2 Gb SD card, that was on sale, from $60 to $25, as well as a Lowepro camera case, on sale for $18. Now all that is left is two sets of rechargeable AA batteries and a good charger, and maybe a few extras here and there...


See my first set of pictures here. (a'la toreajade)

180 degrees

If everything in life comes around in a circle, then I am exactly at 180 degrees, the point where things start to turn around, and you continue on to the point where your journey began. It is a point of complete equilibrium, with exactly one half of the circle fully traversed, and the other half still left for what could be called my home run.

Imagine yourself to be in the middle of the mountains. Nothing but you, your path, and your destination. You strike out early in the day, confident that your trek will pleasant and your objective will be achieved by the afternoon. As you stop for a little break, you notice that the site you were camped at last night is still visible. Surely, you should have been over the ridge by now! You carry on. As the day progresses, your backpack gets heavier, your steps become slower, and the road seems longer than expected. You soldier on. As the sun passes overhead, and begins to slide slowly down to the west, You realise to your dismay that you are nowhere close to your destination. The pace hastens, and the risk increases. You stumble and fall, and begin to wonder if all of this was a good idea in the first place. Then, as soon as doubt has strangulated reason, you catch a glimpse of your target. You forget the pain and the fatigue, and quicken your pace, as the inviting valley opens up to your advancing footsteps. Soon, your steady trot has become a gallop, and your heart is filled with the utmost joy. Your body is tired and broken, but your soul has found salvation.

This is a feeling that only trekkers know and appreciate.

At this point, the day of my return is not clear. But, after all these months of living like a (Immigrant? non-Citizen? the unfamiliar 'other'?) I will be back!
My daydreams have taken on a new realism, and my thoughts are now more focused than ever on getting back to my life, my education and my career.