Foto Friday

Please excuse me while I kill two birds with one stone again. 

I’ve been wanting to write a post (or two, or three…) about photography since a lot of you have been asking.  And it’s also Foto Friday.  So allow me to share some photos while I (hopefully) help you take better pictures.  Like I mentioned before, so many ideas, so little time.

If you don’t care about photography mumbo-jumbo, skip the end and read about Ty.

The most often asked photo question (at least to me) is, “What kind of camera do you use?”  Fortunately for you, it’s more about basic photography knowledge and good editing software than the camera. 

Enter Exhibit A.

I took this with my point-and-shoot (the less expensive, everday camera)…

…and this with the DSLR (the more expensive, professional-grade camera).

After editing, they looked like this…

and this.

But for the record, I have a DSLR (Pentax *st DL) and a pretty basic Kodak point-and-shoot (DX7630).  Here’s the kicker…you’ll probably never see these mentioned as a CR Best Buy or recommended by a photography website.  In fact, I’m not sure I even would recommend them (if they’re even still on the market).  I could go into the reasons I went for a Pentax DSLR instead of a Canon or Nikon but I won’t bore you.  Just know it was mostly financial (think $300 vs $700).

So know you may be asking, “What’s the difference between a DSLR and a point-and-shoot?” or better “What do I have and what should I have?” 

Let’s review camera types (I am going to default to outside sources mostly.  Why re-invent the wheel, right?):

DSLR—Here’s wikipedia’s take.  In simple terms, these are the bigger cameras with interchangeable lenses. 

Point-and-Shoot–Again, I’ll let you explore wikipedia.  Basically, these are all the other cameras.  They do range from compact (fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand-kind) to superzoom (look like DSLR wannabees).

Bottomline, DSLRs are more powerful and versatile…and more expensive.  Point-and-shoots with more features can take great pictures too (for a lot less money).  So the answer to “what camera should I have?” is it depends.  I would go DSLR if you’re serious about learning more about photography and want to explore more than just documenting life (and can afford it).  Did I mention they’re a lot more money?  For point-and-shoot, I would at least go with a subcompact (in between compact and superzoom) that has manual setting capabilities.

Phew…I think that’s all for this post.  I’ll explore camera settings, editing, composition, etc. another time.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, if you have camera questions, go ahead an shoot (pun intended).  Probably leaving comments is best.  In fact, I’m trying out a new comment system that allows me to reply back in a “Disqus“-sion format.

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Even without all the photo mumble jumble, I would have shared this picture.

Why?  Because it represents how much of a miracle baby Ty really is.  To look at him, you would never know that he was born 15 weeks early, weighing only 1 pound 7 oz. 

I know you’re wondering.  Yes, we know a lot about the circumstances of his birth.  No, we’re not sharing it.  We’re doing our best to protect Ty’s story so that he can decide (when he’s old enough) who to tell what.

He was born with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)  which is not unusual for preemies but also put him at a 50% risk of Cerebal Palsy.  The above picture is Ty’s last of only three visits with a therapist to fill in some developmental gaps.  He was also cleared by a neurologist this week…so no CP.  We still see a speech therapist (actually, she comes to us), but he’s making great strides in that area as well.  We’re even hearing sentences.  God is good.