Sometimes...You Have To Use The Good Camera

 I guess it takes a solar eclipse to realize you have more than two cameras.

Today was that day.

This morning the family gathered outside to take pictures of the solar eclipse (incredible, by the way...). I ran inside and grabbed my Nikon 3300. I snapped some pictures of the sun/moon combo through clouds...

And then I saw the rose bush.

Snapped a few more photos.

I bought my Nikon years ago. I love that camera. I also love the camera on my phone. It's not the best camera phone, but it's adequate. That's the problem...adequate. It's just good enough to get good shots, but not great, not like the cameras on new phones. One day I'll upgrade, but today is not that day.

Of course, it's cumbersome to lug around a big DSLR. That's not the only disadvantage. You can't edit the photos as easily as you can with a phone. You can't instantly upload and send pictures to friends/family.

Still, I look at this picture of one of our last roses of the season and I wonder if I should be using the Nikon more, lugging around the big camera, waiting until later to download the photos to edit/send them.

Sometimes, it is. Sometimes, you have to use the good camera...

Because it's worth it.

What's Better Than Catching A Beautiful Sunset? A More Beautiful Sunset The Next Day...

Last night I had just picked up dinner (fast food...) when I turned around and saw a beautiful sunset. I wasn't in a location that allowed me to take a wonderful picture of said sunset. I also didn't have my Nikon, just my phone.

I snapped a picture and used it for my Pic Of The Day.

I got some "Likes" and a couple of comments on social media, which always makes me feel good. Even if people don't comment or Like the picture, I know it makes for an interesting thing to look at, at least, that's what people have told me.

But tonight, after my son's friends left the party we had at our house this afternoon, the light coming in from behind the blinds was orange. When that happens, I know what it means. It means there's probably another beautiful sunset just beyond the plastic blinds and glass windows.

I was right.

Some sunsets are targeted in the western sky. They flash brilliance in an area and leave the rest of the sky unaffected. Other sunsets can change the sky orange, but have few clouds to give it variety. Smoke from summer fires can cause those. They're beautiful as well.

Tonight's was kind of a combination of both. To the south, brilliant reds, purples and oranges exploded and then clouds carried the sweeping colors north. Unlike last night, I was in a great spot to catch the totality of what I was seeing.

So, to help get over a tough college football loss, the sky erupted with a treat for the eyes, and the soul.

New Camera...New Pictures

I've written several blog posts concerning cameras. Back in 2011 I made the decision to post one picture every day on Facebook, Google +, and my blog. I believe I've also used at least one photo in each of my daily blogs. Since then I've gone through several cameras--not that I've destroyed those cameras--they work perfectly fine. It's just that I've upgraded the equipment on which I shoot.

The first camera I used when I began my photographic adventure was a Kodak MX 1063 Digital Point-And-Shoot. I loved that camera. It wasn't the best, but I think I utilized every function of that little camera. And it was red, which is always a bonus.

With a heavy heart I traded in my trusty Kodak for an iPhone. When I bought my first smartphone, an iPhone 4, I used that for my daily pictures. Since then I upgraded my phone from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4s and finally an iPhone SE, which has an amazing camera, by the way.

In 2014 I bought my first serious camera, a Nikon D60. I still have that camera and I love it, even though it was several years old when I got it. And up until last week, that was my workhorse, my trusted friend to capture what my eye saw and hopefully, some of the emotion as well.

Last week I picked up a new camera, and even though I've loved all my cameras, this one is flat-out beautiful! It's another Nikon, this time the D3300 model. Oh, and it's also red. The photos on this blog that aren't of the new camera were taken with the D3300 today. I've only had it a week, but I took it to Comic Con and tried it out. My pictures were okay--I'm still learning how the thing operates, but I look forward to experimenting and taking a lot of pictures and video. 

We'll see how it all develops.