I don’t even like sprinkles on ice cream, so when this afternoon’s weather forecast predicted a chance of “afternoon sprinkles”, I considered working instead of playing today. But a glance at this weekend’s forecast, which looks even worse, combined with some gentle arm twisting from the Bitch Pack, convinced me this was not a day to be spent indoors. That turned out to be a wise decision, because if I had worked today, I would have been kicking myself mid-afternoon for making the wrong choice. Besides, I had a new toy to play with.
I recently decided I needed a fairly inexpensive coat-pocket-size camera to get some quick shots in the hunt field and other places where it wouldn’t be feasible to tote the Nikon 5700. After carefully studying reviews for at least 15 minutes, I somewhat impulsively chose a Fuji A340. It seemed to have a good combination of features for the price range I was trying to stay in, considering I already have the 5700 and am now seriously lusting after the Canon Rebel. I got the Fuji A340 yesterday and spent some time becoming familiar with it, and took it out for its maiden hunt today.
Results were mixed. I got some fairly good shots like this one. I also got a lot of blurry shots, which probably shouldn’t be blamed on the camera. Especially on a cloudy day, I suppose it couldn’t use a shutter speed fast enough to compensate for some serious camera shake due to a photographer on a restless horse with a flask of Van Winkle in his other hand. I also need to become a little more familiar with the camera’s shutter lag and confusing beeps. I think with a little more use, I can get more consistent results from it.
Aside from the photo opportunities, it was a fairly mundane day, but it still beat the hell out of working. We had a few minutes of what might be called “sprinkles”, although it was really closer to a mist. The rest of the afternoon was cloudy and pleasant. With the forecasts for this weekend and Thanksgiving predicting rain/snow showers, which sound less pleasant than sprinkles, today may have been the last hunt for a while.
West Wing tonight was also somewhat marginal. I really don’t think I like where they’re taking it.
I too like to take hunt pictures. I borrowed my father’s EOS Digital Rebel for Opening Day. Incredible camera. You will not be disappointed if you end up buying it. I was astounded at the quality of my photos. I was comparing them to those in the MFHA calender and mine were almost as good. Now I know I am not that great a photographer, so I am sure the camera helped out. If you want to see what an amature’s pictures, I can send you a few.