thankful #2

The evidence is in the archives - how this blog changed after May 2006. It's because in that month my hubby gifted me with the next item on my thankful list:

 my digital camera

I have never enjoyed a birthday gift more!

No gadget limited to vacations this! My camera has become an (almost) constant companion. I truck it along on all my walks, slip it into the back pocket of my purse before I go to church, and always have it handy at family do's.

I think I was meant for the photography life. At least that's what a career analysis told me when, well into adulthood and disillusioned by yet another dead-end career choice,  a high school counselor who was also my cousin gave me one of her tests.  My likes and dislikes were most comparable to those of reporters and photographers i.e. a photo-journalist.

These days my journalism is mostly of the flora and fauna. Like these deer, seen one morning in front of the graffiti under the 206th Street bridge.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Or these traps, exposed by the dew.

Or these lovely waxy juniper berries that have suddenly appeared all over the hedge just outside our front door.

Mine is not one of your name-drop cameras ("Oh, I use a Canon 5D Mark II"). Maybe someday. But so far, my 5 megapixel Panasonic DMC-TZ1 with 10x optical zoom and optical image stabilization has done me very well. The controls are intuitive and easy to use and the rechargeable battery truly does have an extended life.

My only regret is that I haven't learned to do more with it. So far I've let its little computer brain set the f-stops - venturing only as far as figuring out how to do a couple of things, like activate the timer - here's the camera's self-portrait as proof:

... and take night photos - this 8-second-exposure, malt-hued scene of last year's Christmas lights was taken without a tripod.

But I do have thousands of photos and no cumbersome albums (after '06, that is). I could flee my burning house with the record our family's recent life and my passions in a wallet of megapixel-filled disks tucked under my arm. You gotta love that!

What gadgets are you thankful for?