Since my camera effectively died several months ago, I’ve really missed taking pictures. Sure, I’ll swipe Smartz’s camera from time to time, but it’s not the same as having my own.

My Pentax Optio 750Z was a fine, metal-bodied camera. It’s still basically functional, though takes pretty crappy pictures now. Over the several years of ownership, it’s traveled across the country five times, been dropped many times (two or three of those drops were while riding).

The most memorable drop was after taking some shots of trains at Horseshoe Curve, I was riding through Altoona and noticed that the camera was no longer with me. I turned around, retraced my route and found the camera lying upright along the side of the road. Along this portion, I was probably only going 35 or 40mph. It had some scratches and dents and was missing several screws, but after some duct taping, it was fine.

What I liked about this was that it was compact. I could shove it in my pocket and go. Also, it had great manual controls. Most point and shoots do not. Smartz’s camera, for example, doesn’t have much in the line of any manual controls that you can set from shot to shot.

Most of the photos that I take and “display” have a lot of post-camera work done on them (photoshop). However, that doesn’t mean the camera is unimportant. If I can’t get a decently lit shot or if it’s blurry, etc, no amount of photoshopping is going to change that. The source material is really important here.

Which is why I’m ready for a new camera. The Pentax is still ok for well-lit, outdoor scenes where things are fairly stationary. But over the years it’s gotten noisier and much less reliable. Smatz’s camera, like I said, is great, but 1) it’s not mine and 2) it’s been moody as of late, especially in lower-light.

I’m not sure what the future holds for me and cameras, but eventually, a new one will come along. I’d like something a bit larger this time. Something with a nice zoom on it. And something that does well in low-light. Financially, I can’t go the digital SLR route. Maybe next time.

For now (well, not as later), I think I’ll hover around the “prosumer” end of things. The Canon Powershot SX20 is a contender, as is the Nikon Coolpix P90. Both can be obtained for just over $300ish. That’s not a bad price if I’d like to have one by summer. I’ll have to do some more research here.

Any other suggestions of cameras in that price range would be helpful.

To check out the pics taken with the Pentax, look here. And here too. Oh, and these.

The Pentax has been mostly useless since early 2009. Here’s hoping that 2010 brings something new.

As the weather turns warmer, I remember to this time last year when I was getting ready for Scoot 66. This makes me a bit nostalgic (for last year, which I guess really isn’t nostalgia, but who cares) and I start looking at some of the thousands of pictures I took on the road.

I’ve also been working on some ideas for pictures, new techniques, etc. I tried some new things and some stuff based on old things and came up with these eight pics. I don’t overly like some of them, but that’s how it goes.

Here are the experiments…

A few years ago, I started to get more into photography. This was after my first trip out west. Since then, I’ve dabbled here and there with it.

Those exploits can be seen here, if you like.

I’ve not done much with my photos from Scoot 66. I’ve done a few, but nothing compared to what I did before.

Well, I’ve decided to get back into a bit and have so far knocked out three. Here you go.

I’ve not really be all that productive/creative lately. I’ve had a tiny spurt. We’ll see where this goes.

And here is the poem…

      	baptized in
      	the mud
     of main street
     mother's milk

      	from dust storms
eyes caked
      	and coughed
rich
      	soil for weeks

	these open skies
	bleed wet,
     skeleton
	hang flesh

for everything is
stagnant or stale

     inside
     i kept
     secrets
from
rain

	every drop
		cursing

     promises i
     never made
	she kept
	and found
avenue to
path

rails 	between
	raindrops

should we
follow this line
     through contour of
 	land
through twelve
miles of kansas
     eight states
     away three
	hours

bathed in the blood
of desert rain
clouds screaming fire
	drying eyes
held hands fast
	to this
concrete
ribbon a lifetime

I can’t believe the number of Dead End roads there are on West Virginia Route 88. It’s only a small stretch of road, yet there are more Dead Ends than I’ve ever seen anywhere.

Also, while there are some decent ideas for photographs along the road, there are no shoulders to the road. None. Nowhere you can pull off, or even walk. Imagine that. There’s no place to just pull over and look at something. You can’t even walk along the side of the road.

I attempted to take one picture yesterday. But because of the aforementioned deficiencies, this was all I could do with it:

You can click it to make it bigger.

Hey hey!

Any of you fine folks have a Flickr account? I’ve had one for awhile and I think I’ll be using it more now. When I’m blogging on my trip, I’ll be uploading all of my photos to Flickr. Oh yes.

My account.

I’ve got a bunch of pictures on it already and I’m in a few groups, including a devotee one.

You can check out what I have up so far. Feel free to add me, etc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sitproperly/

I have also added a bunch of the photos to the map section. You can see where I’ve been! Lucky you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sitproperly/map/
[sideways scroll the pics to see all 90 some of them]

Take a look and feel free to share.
!!

Oh hey! Would you like to see my photography from 2007?

Sure you would.

You can go to flickr and see it yourself.

Or you can go here and make your life awesome!