Friday, December 16, 2005

The Race Is On, 2005

Two days to pack and prepare for the vacation. Not a lot of time, but will be sufficient to finish up what I need to do. Other than having to administer a final exam to about 100 students for my advisor (another pleasure of being a graduate student) tomorrow morning early there is nothing on the agenda this weekend other than final preparations. So tonight I’ll prepare the lists of what remains to be done as well as the packing list, then tomorrow when I get home from the final around noon, the race is on. Reminds me so much of this very time last year (hence the temporal demarcation in this post's title).

Thus far I’m very happy with the new digital camera purchased on Monday. As I needed to familiarize myself with its functions before the trip, I’ve been a total shutterbug this week. The camera is small enough that I can carry it around with me wherever I go without me looking like a total dork. I was going to go with a larger Olympus (the same digital SLR model I have for work), but opted to go with the smaller Canon due to the ease of transport. No large camera and clunky case to haul about Central America. Just slip it into a pocket and go. Since one of my photographic goals is to capture “unnoticed,” daily routine things, having the camera readily at hand will be a benefit. I’m altogether rather pleased as to its capabilities (though it doesn’t have quite the zoom capabilities as the digital SLR I have for work) and the two extra memory cards I purchased will store about 500 pictures each with large file size and fine resolution. I’m still experimenting with the latter two features to derive the most appropriate setting for crisp, clear (and in some cases, printable) images.

A frustrating learning process at times (like accidentally reformatting a full memory card on Tuesday. Oops), but nonetheless enjoyable. Perhaps I’ve rediscovered a rewarding hobby.

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