Digital Photography et al

I purchased my first digital camera in 1998, an open box, display clearance Kodak.  Originally, I wanted a digital camera for web design, photographing backgrounds, custom graphics, and, of course, chronicling my landscaping and gardening projects.  I even took some pictures of my children.  It is a given that I took a lot of  pictures of my children.

I'll be darned if I can find any pictures pre-1999, though.  They probably ended up on some floppy disk that got thrown away.  This is a good lesson to all of us to make sure to find a way to preserve digital photos as the storage media changes.

Moving on: my poor Kodak digital camera finally got dropped by one of the children.  The miracle is that it lasted as long as it did.  When I went in to Staples and other stores looking for a replacement camera silly me asked for something comparable in quality to my beloved Kodak.  The sales people suppressed laughs as they explained that digital camera technology was so far advanced from my old Kodak that even the cheapest camera I could find would far surpass its abilities.  Well, I felt silly and thrilled.  Really, that meant I could once again find an open box, clearance digital camera and be moving in the right direction.

"Take lots and lots and lots of pictures. Then take some more.  Take hundreds of pictures."

I ended up at Best Buy and purchased my next digital camera for under $100.  It really didn't take very good pictures.  I still took a lot of pictures, a LOT of pictures of my children, chickens, goats, and some plants.

That camera was again subjected to the youthful exuberance of my children and was dropped.  No more focus.  Again I had to attempt to swim in the ocean of digital cameras.  It was a short swim.  I ended up with another Kodak, another open box job for under $100, an EasyShare M340 because I like their color chip or whatever it is called.  They make good low-cost point and shoots.  Of course, my heart yearned for a Canon Rebel DSLR but those babies were expensive!

Does the camera matter that much? It depends on what you want to do with your digital camera.  If you want to chronicle family events, take pictures of your garden or dog to share with your friends and family it really doesn't matter.  If you want to head into more specialized photography such as songbirds or macros of flowers, bees, or other nature shots, a little research is necessary.  If you ever want to sell your photographs you need to invest in a camera that takes clear, sharp pictures.

How have I survived all of these years without purchasing an expensive digital camera? I process my photos on my laptop after I download them from the camera.  What program do I use to make my pictures look so sharp, intense and nearly professional? Paint Shop Pro 8.1.  Yep, an inexpensive alternative to Photoshop.  I love PSP.  I have used PSP since version 4.0.  Love, love, love it.  But sadly Jasc sold PSP to one of its competitors.  They sold out.

Corel bought up PSP and then dumbed it down to just a photo editing program.  I have not used the newer program but it probably does nicely for post processing photos.  I highly recommend it.

I am a die-hard PSP fan, though, and hold onto my PSP 8.1 and use it with devotion.  Below are some before and after processing with PSP:

Before processing with PSP 8.1

After processing with PSP 8.1

My Kodak takes okay photos.  I am again yearning for a better camera.  If I can figure out a way to make some money from a better camera I will invest.

I am looking at Compact System Digital cameras such as the Sony Nex C3 and DSLR's such as the Canon Rebel T3i with macro lenses for each.  Interestingly enough, those two cameras with the macro lenses are not too far apart in cost. 

I would love to hear stories of your digital camera choices and how happy you are with the end results: your photos.

Oh, and my one important piece of advice: Take lots and lots and lots of pictures.  Then take some more pictures.  Take hundreds of pictures.  Out of those hundreds you might get a handful that are amazing.  You just might!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It has been over 6 years since I did any vegetable gardening.  I had just begun to learn gardening for the New England region when I became too ill to continue.  So now I feel like I am relearning everything (not sure how much I knew and lost, either).  

The good news is that my grey matter seems capable of learning all over again and I am going for it.

Backyard beds June 14, 2012

My tomatoes are thriving and blooming.  So excited at the promise of fresh, organically-grown tomatoes.  The basil plants attract slugs and are growing but are very holey.  

In the far bed my carrots are finally growing after a second sowing.  I will not bother growing carrots in the future most likely.  They are inexpensive to purchase and take up a lot of space that I think would be better used for more garlic now that I know how well it does in that particular spot.  

My sugar snap peas (on left trellis in rear) are finally blooming.  I am pretty sure we will never get these in the house but will be a favorite "snack from the vine" kind of treat for all.  

Suyo long cucumber

 I have been disappointed in the cucumbers that I planted: Suyo long cucumbers.  They only seem to germinate at 50% and then are not doing well in our cool New England spring weather.  This is when I really wish I had a greenhouse.  Really and truly.  I planted an oriental cuke because I buy the hothouse cucumbers vs. the more common cucumbers when I shop.  This experiment might not be a success.  I will sow some more seeds and wait for warmer weather.  They might just take off when we get another week of higher temps.

Over 100 slugs

Yesterday, I went out in the rain and collected over 100 slugs from my gardens.  Next time I will wear rubber gloves, though.  Slugs can carry a parasite that causes deadly meningitis.  I sure did a lot of hand-washing yesterday.

These slimy guys do a lot of damage; they seem to prefer basil and lettuce to most everything else.  But I don't want to share my lettuce.  So the slugs must go.  

I had a thought this morning while doing my rounds: is there some type of substance I can put on the ground around my garden beds to keep the slugs from climbing the wood frames?  After a quick search I found that lava rocks, copper strips, and diatomaceous earth can all be used as a slug barrier.  Hmmm, I have a huge 50 lb. bag of DE in my basement.  That will be my afternoon gardening task.  I'll let you know how well it works.

Sugar pumpkin

Finally the pumpkins are growing.  Finally! We had an early spring, then a heat wave, then 4 weeks of fairly cool, wet weather.  Temps have been mostly in the 60's to low 70's during the day and in the 50's at night.

Now we need to see some warmer weather so my heat loving plants can start really growing.  

I have had no luck with the pepper plants.  The one plant that I had in the driveway grouping attracted slugs which ate it to a single, leafless stem.  It finally succumbed.  The seeds I planted in my front garden haven't even come up.  I think I might try to plant some inside and see if I can get them to germinate and give them a little head start before transplanting.  I knew peppers would be a challenge in New England but I was hoping I could grow some because we eat a LOT of red, yellow and orange bell peppers around here.  The boys love them raw, sauteed, in their eggs, well, in pretty much anything.

Sugar snap pea

Oh, the beauty of a pea blossom.  Took 10 tries but I actually got a decent closeup.  A camera that can take closeups and macros is on my wish list (when that million dollar check comes in the mail -- I can dream, can't I?).  

Considering this is my first season gardening in a very long time, I feel fairly successful.  Gardening is all about experimenting: failure and success both teach.  

Thank you for sharing my garden with me today.  How does your garden grow?