Photo Emergencies

For about three weeks, my Nikon camera battery has been MIA. I just assumed it was misplaced or stashed in a special spot (that I'd certainly never forget). I assured myself that I'd find it once we started packing and organizing, but I really did it this time. I'm pretty sure it's lost for good. So, last week, I ordered a new battery charger online and it arrived yesterday afternoon. 

As a result of the charger being gone, I haven't taken as many photos as I usually would, hoping to extend the battery's life for real photo "emergencies." The battery finally gave out when I was taking a video of J and Little playing "forts." I'm sad I missed out, it was really cute, but I know there will be many more opportunities, as Miles loves nothing more than playing forts. 

Well, except for eating Pirate's Booty for breakfast, sans pants, while watching soccer with his dad. Last weekend, we were having a rough morning -- Little woke up way too early, was hungry and cranky, but refused to eat anything. He also decided that his pants had to go. Who am I to judge? So, J found a soccer game on TV and a happy morning was born. Little ate his weight in Pirate's Booty and went on to enjoy a more healthy breakfast. A true photo emergency if I've ever seen one.

Great Camera Debate

I've been pondering DSLR cameras for a while, but started seriously doing some research after playing around with one on a recent visit to my parents' house. I then realized that while my point and shoot takes lovely photos, I'm really missing out. I also feel that it's not completely unreasonable for me to look into shifting into better quality photos, given that I took photography in college and really enjoyed walking around with my camera in hand -- and since I now have such a fun subject, I've really been itching to start up again. 

After doing initial research, I narrowed it down to two companies, Canon and Nikon, which are pretty much the leaders in the DSLR business. Since I already own a Canon SLR, I decided that I'd just run with it and stick to what I know. I didn't bother looking at Nikon, because it was a lot easier to compare models within one family than look at the multitude of options that arise when you open the playing field. Until a week ago, I'd settled on the Canon T2i. It's on the higher end of entry-level cameras and was pretty much going to max out my budget, but I decided that maybe I should invest in a body that I could grow into and invest in a nice lens at a (much) later date.

However, I went over to our friends' house and got to play around a bit with his new Nikon. I really liked the feel and it prompted me into expanding my research. After doing a bit more digging, I learned that you're pretty much a "Canon" or a "Nikon" kind of person, so I didn't take this search lightly knowing that it would likely set my camera preference for the foreseeable future. A million camera forums later, I came to realize that unless I'm going to really start to do specialized professional photography, a good entry-level DSLR body will do, but it's the lens that matters. With the Nikon that I'm looking at, I'll save about $200-250 on the body and kit lens, which means that I can really learn how to use the camera and invest in a good lens right away.


I went to a couple of camera shops in town and played around with both. I think my mind is set, the Nikon is my camera of choice.