Posts Tagged Point and shoot
April 22, 2011 – Whistler Mountain
Posted by Dave in British Columbia, Mountains, Picture of the Day, Winter/Snow on April 22, 2011
View from Whistler Mountain
Friday, April 22, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1752
One last post here to round out the week. And, in honor of the fact that both me and mother nature seem to be having a tough time letting go of this winter, I’m going to post another skiing shot. (Sadly, I won’t be making it up skiing this weekend – but my season is far from over!!)
This was taken from the summit of Whistler Mountain, at Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia. The normal picture that you’d take from up here would include Black Tusk, but I like this view too. The weather during this particular trip up there was a bit weird though. I took it in January of 2008, but the snow was a lot more like what you’d usually find in April. There was a warm spell that rolled through (that does happen from time to time up here in the PNW), so the snow, while pretty to look at, was kind of grabby and nasty. As in, it wasn’t quite warm enough to be soft and slushy like the *good* stuff you get in the spring (at least, not this high on the mountain, down low it was a lot nicer), but it wasn’t quite cold enough to be fully frozen either. (Yes, I prefer ice and hard-pack to grabby, but both of them are way at the bottom of the list.) Anyway, enough about the skiing. I like the view, and that’s what we’re here for.
Notes: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS (Point and shoot). 1/1000s, ISO 80.
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March 8, 2011 – San Juan Mountains
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Flowers, Mountains, Picture of the Day on March 8, 2011
San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=184
Hey again everybody, happy Monday Tuesday! Today’s picture is ridiculously old. It was taken with a 3.2 megapixel point and shoot, if that gives you any idea. I took it while I was on a road trip through southwestern Colorado, hanging out in the San Juans. That’s one of those places that I definitely need to spend more time getting to know. It’s *gorgeous* down there. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s gorgeous in a lot of places in Colorado, but especially down there. Unfortunately I only had a couple days, most of which I spent exploring little 4×4 roads in my decidedly non-rugged Subaru Legacy. I went a few places I probably shouldn’t have (and even got stuck once or twice), but it was awesome. (I had the awd, but I did NOT have the ground clearance, unfortunately. My newer Subaru, an Outback, does. Maybe I need to head back down there…) Anyway, this was from there. I don’t remember exactly where, sorry. Someplace with a few flowers and some big peaks nearby. Totally helpful, right?
On a completely unrelated note, I apologize if you previously had a login account on the blog, and now you don’t. Don’t get me wrong, there was never anything you could actually DO with an account, but the ability to make one was there. I figured there was no harm in leaving that enabled, and a few of you actually used it. But, I was getting a spate of spammy user accounts signing up (about 150 in the past couple days), so I ended up disabling accounts, and deleting all of them that had already been created. So if that bit you, uhh, sorry. Fortunately, you still have unfettered access to all of the uninspired content I have tossed up here in the past and will continue to toss up here in the future. Yay!
Notes: Canon PowerShot S230 (Point and shoot). 1/250s, ISO unknown.
Popularity: 19%
January 18, 2011 – Silver Queen from Crystal Mountain
Posted by Dave in Mountains, Picture of the Day, Washington State, Winter/Snow on January 18, 2011
Silver Queen from Crystal Mountain
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=357
Hello again, everybody! I once again want to apologize for my spotty posting over the past couple of months. I really do want to get back into it, now that all the craziness of the holidays and such is over, and a myriad of other excuses. In fact, I came into this week fully planning on putting up 5 shots. But, then I realized that it was already Tuesday morning, that I had already lost a day due to the holiday yesterday, and I had to give up on that dream. So, the current, updated plan is to put up 4 shots. We’ll see.
I decided that it had been long enough since I posted a skiing picture, and that today was a great day to toss another one up here. So, here you go. This is a view of Silver Queen Mountain, from the summit of Crystal Mountain. Silver Queen Mountain is actually in-bounds for skiing, if you were wondering. Well, that’s a bit misleading. There’s a chairlift that goes to the very tippy top, and everything on the LEFT side of the ridge coming down is skiable. But everything on the RIGHT side is not. Some people still do, as you can see by the presence of tracks over there, but if you do decide to ski it, my understanding is that you are: 1) putting yourself at a decent avalanche risk, 2) setting yourself up for a VERY LONG hike back out, or a VERY LONG trip down through some extremely gnarly trees and probably very spotty snow coverage, down to the (closed) highway into Mt. Rainier National Park, which is probably four or five thousand vertical feet down. But hey, if that’s your thing…
Also, to continue the theme established last Wednesday, this is not a recent picture. I think it was taken back in 2005 or 2006, with a pocket point and shoot. But, last I heard, that mountain is still there.
Notes: Canon PowerShot S500 (Point and shoot). 1/800s, f/8.0.
Popularity: 13%
November 15, 2010 – Alpental
Posted by Dave in Picture of the Day, Washington State, Winter/Snow on November 15, 2010
Alpental
Monday, November 15, 2010
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=347
Hey everyone! Been a few days, hasn’t it? This time it wasn’t because I went anywhere, this time it’s just because I’ve been a bit lazy. I’m taking a little bit of a break from this “posting a picture every day-ish” thing. Not like, a total break, just a “I’m going to post a little bit less frequently until I feel like posting more frequently” kind of thing. Just not really feeling the motivation at the moment, ya know?
Today’s picture is actually one of my favorites. I know what you’re thinking: “seriously?? THIS one? One of your favorites??”. And in answer to that I say “Yes. Shut up.” With emphasis on the second part. Because I am rude.
So I’ve mentioned it several times, and you may have heard (but probably either didn’t or didn’t care when you did) that it’s going to be a La Nina year, and we here in the PNW will be doing happy dances in our bounties of snow all winter. And that’s all true! But, before you get too jealous, keep in mind that this ain’t Utah. We don’t get sun here. Ohhhh no, not in my neighborhood. This is what skiing looks like out here. Great snow, plenty of it, but you only realize how deep it is when you have to dig yourself out of it because you couldn’t see where you were going through the fog. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love it, but that’s just the way it is. So, every time you hear me excitedly recounting how much snow we got dumped on us this winter, get jealous. But then, remember this picture, and then get a little bit less jealous.
Speaking of this picture, this was taken in International Bowl, near the top of Alpental. Alpental is part of the Summit At Snoqualmie, which is a collection of 4 ski hills about an hour east of Seattle. It’s the most accessible place to get some turns around here, but it’s also the least exciting. But, they’re open late (10pm), so it’s great for heading up after work or whatever. Good times.
So, see you all tomorrow, or on whatever day I next decide to bother!
Notes: Canon PowerShot S500 (Point and shoot). 1/320s, f/7.1.
Popularity: 11%
October 25, 2010 – Above Baker Lake
Posted by Dave in Picture of the Day, Washington State on October 25, 2010
Above Baker Lake
Monday, October 25, 2010
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1937
So, did you guys get out like I told you to? Where are the pics? Come on, share! I got out for a quick walk around the neighborhood, and took a couple pictures of leaves and stuff, but I don’t think I got anything worth posting here, so don’t get your hopes up. It’s getting really pretty here in the lowlands now though, so that’s cool. (I haven’t been up there to verify it, but I think the color in the high country is pretty much done for the year. In fact, the mountains are getting pounded with snow right now – they’re expecting a full two feet!!)
Today’s picture was taken on one of those days when I forgot to bring my big camera with me, but fortunately I still had my pocket point and shoot. Despite the small size and tiny lens, you can still get decent pictures with those things in a pinch. I’m actually a bit sad to admit that I’ve gotten out of the habit of carrying my point and shoot with me everywhere. I always have my cell phone though, and while it’s true that the camera in that thing is better than any cell phone camera I’ve had before it, it’s still not capable of getting any pictures I’d really call decent. (I mean, pictures of my buddies, sure, but beyond that…)
This was taken at the far end of Baker Lake, which sits on the western slope of the Cascades, north of Highway 20 (the highway that goes through North Cascades National Park) and Highway 542 (the road to Mt. Baker). I got distracted, and forgot what else I was going to say. Since it’s already late, I’m going to go ahead and hit submit now.
Notes: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS (Point and shoot). 1/200s, f/2.8, ISO 80.
Popularity: 5%
September 22, 2010 – Blackcomb Mountain
Posted by Dave in British Columbia, Mountains, Picture of the Day, Winter/Snow on September 22, 2010
Blackcomb Mountain
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=162
So since it’s about to be fall (later tonight), I suppose I should start thinking about posting some fall color shots to get everyone in the mood. Perhaps I’ll start hitting that up later this week. In the meantime, you get winter. This is (yet another) shot from Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort. As with the last picture I posted from the area, this is from the 7th Heaven area on Blackcomb. (Although, that one was just taken a couple weeks ago while *hiking*, not skiing. And, I’ll be posting several more shots from that hike in the next couple weeks.) It’s totally true that the area around Whistler (including Squamish) have been represented more than their fair share of times in this blog. But, quite frankly, it’s because the area is probably the prettiest area that I go to with any frequency.
When I took this picture, back in 2003, I had some weird practices for taking pictures. First, this picture was also taken in that period between when I used my 35mm SLR and when I got my first digital SLR, so I used a pocket point and shoot digital exclusively. (I used the word “also” because I posted another picture a week or two ago from the same general time period, if you were wondering.) I suppose that’s not “weird” per se, but roll with me here. Next, associated with Moore’s Law, flash memory is a heckuva lot cheaper now than it was even a few years ago. Or, to say it in a way that’s more applicable to the discussion, flash memory was a whole lot more expensive per-byte than it is today. So, back when I shot this picture, I was using a 128 mb memory card in my camera, that cost more than the 8 gb card I currently use in my SLR. That’s pretty ridiculous. It also meant that I found myself needing to download the images off my camera pretty frequently. And, related to that, it meant that I spent a fair bit of effort strategizing about what image size to take my pictures at.
Wait, what? Yeah, whereas these days I just leave the camera set at the largest size and highest quality, back in the day I’d take the vast majority of my pictures at a very small size (640×480 for my first camera, incrementally larger with the next couple), and then if there was a picture that I thought I may want to blow up or something some day, I’d bump it to Large. (Most of my pictures were just of my buddies and stuff, so the large size wasn’t needed. But if I was, for example, taking a picture of a mountain, I’d bump it up.)
So, why does this all relate to this picture? Well, because, I umm, took this picture at 640 x 480. Meaning, you’re looking at the full-size image. Meaning, if you loved this picture and wanted it printed out nice and big and hung on your wall, you’d be out of luck. It’s unfortunate too, because I like this picture. When I took it, I didn’t realize it was set on small until after I took it. So I then moved it to large and “took the picture again”. It was bright sunshine out though, so I couldn’t really see the details to see if I had actually gotten the same shot again or not, I could just basically see that the sky looked basically the same. Of course I realized later that the full-size version was crap, and only the little tiny one (this one) was any good. So, whoops, live and learn. That actually burned me a couple times before memory cards actually got cheap enough to just leave it set on Large all the time.
So, there you go. Not only was today’s picture taken with a point and shoot, it was taken with a point and shoot set to the smallest picture size that the camera could do.
Notes: Canon PowerShot S230 (Point and Shoot). 1/1500s, f/9.0.
Popularity: 10%
September 14, 2010 – Alpenglow and the Moon
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day on September 14, 2010
Alpenglow and the Moon, near Lake City, Colorado
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=177
Today’s picture is a fairly old one, taken in that odd time between when I used a 35mm SLR and when I got my first digital SLR. When I got my first digital pocket-sized point-and-shoot, I started off by bringing both that and my 35mm with me when I’d go hiking or whatever. The idea being, I’d use the little guy for most of my pics, like taking pictures of my buddies or whatever, but if there was a shot that I would theoretically consider blowing up someday, I’d bust out the SLR. But obviously I quickly came to the conclusion that one of the two was dramatically easier to use, and actually took some decent pictures to boot. So I found myself reaching for the 35mm less and less often.
There were actually two last straws, that both hit at right about the same time. First, I had gone on a hike near Mt. St. Helens, and on that hike I had taken 3 or 4 rolls of pictures with the SLR. It was one of those days where the conditions were absolutely perfect. It was sunny, not too hazy, and there were these little fluffy white clouds that made the skies really interesting (and I had a polarizing filter to really bring them out). I was stoked to get the pictures back, because I knew they’d be amazing. Except.. they weren’t. They all just plain sucked. Four rolls of shots, and not a single gosh dang one was worth anything. It crushed me. And no, this wasn’t the only time this had ever happened to me. But it WAS the *last* time this ever happened to me. And, as if that weren’t enough, about this same time I decided to blow up a picture of Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake. You know, that one view. I had two versions of nearly the same picture, one taken with my 35mm, and the other taken with my *2 megapixel* pocket point-and-shoot (the one I just linked to is neither of them, but it was pretty similar to both). I blew them both up to 12×18, and as it turns out, the point-and-shoot version was actually better. Even at only 2 megapixels, it looked fantastic at 12×18. Even with a crappy little plastic lens, it looked fantastic at 12×18.
After those two events, I started leaving the 35mm at home, and I never looked back. It was several years until I finally got up the courage to make the leap into an actual digital SLR, and this particular trip to Colorado landed right inside that window. So all I had with me for the whole trip was a little pocket point-and-shoot. I had upgraded to a 3.2 megapixel version by then, but still. Nowadays, I of course wonder about all the awesome shots I missed out on not having the equipment, knowledge or skills that I do now, but that’s never a worthwhile thing to worry about. I’ll just have to go back, right?
This particular picture was taken in the San Juan mountains, in the southwest corner of Colorado. There’s a little dirt mountain road that heads into the mountains from Lake City. Eventually it goes over some pass (Cinnamon Pass maybe? Not sure), but I was just driving a passenger sedan (a Subaru Legacy, AWD, but a sedan nonetheless), and the road got pretty gnarly, so I turned around before I got stuck. I did spend a night up there though, and this was snapped right before the sun went down. Ahhhh, alpenglow, my favorite.
Notes: Canon PowerShot S230 (Point and shoot). 1/500s.
Popularity: 11%
August 18, 2010 – Crystal Mountain
Posted by Dave in Picture of the Day, Washington State, Winter/Snow on August 18, 2010
Crystal Mountain
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=859
Wow, what happened to Tuesday?? That was weird. Oh well, it’s Wednesday now, and here’s Tuesday’s post. This was taken at some random spot on the mountain at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, here in Washington state. Good times.
I realized a couple weekends ago when I was in Lake Tahoe talking to my cousin that, while I do talk about the general idea behind aperture and shutter speed and ISO and all that other crap here and there, I don’t really have one nice, easy-to-find spot with all of that written down. I wanted to direct her to that page, but it doesn’t exist yet. Also, I couldn’t just direct her to the blog itself and tell her to read a few entries either. Whenever I’m writing up a post, I feel like I’ve already covered that ground, several times, so I don’t feel like going over it again and again and again. But, it’s been quite awhile now, and I don’t even remember where all that stuff is. So, I decided I should go ahead and make up a new sticky page, that’ll be right up above in those tabs that you only see if you’re looking at the actual website and not reading this entry in a feed reader. Oh, no, it’s not there yet. But the intention to put it there is totally there. And that’s half the battle.
And I’m not even going to mention Flattr today. So there.
Notes: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS (Point and shoot). 1/640s, f/8.0, ISO 80.
Popularity: 13%
July 27, 2010 – Saint Mary Lake
Posted by Dave in Mountains, Picture of the Day on July 27, 2010
Saint Mary Lake, Glacier National Park
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=176
Wow, new posts on Monday AND Tuesday?? Wow, you guys must have done something right, for sure. Today’s picture is fairly old, from back in 2003. At that time I was only recently sworn off of my 35mm SLR, and I was rocking my second little pocket-sized point and shoot from Canon. (Film purists would argue with my logic, but I truly felt that I was getting better results (and much more convenient results) from my digicam than I was with my full-size 35mm beast.) I spent a fair bit of time laid off from work, so I had the opportunity to go on a few nice, long roadtrips that summer. I ended up in Montana a couple times, including the time when I got this shot in Glacier National Park.
You’re looking at Saint Mary Lake, which is on the east side of the park, right along the main road. (The “main road” being Going-To-The-Sun road.) I had driven through west-to-east, but unfortunately I was on my way somewhere (Colorado), so I didn’t have any time to hang around or hike or anything. (In fact, I originally wasn’t planning on swinging by Glacier at all – it was a split second decision when I saw a sign for it along I-90, which resulted in a 2 or 3 day detour. That’s the joy of not really having a tight schedule though, you can afford to just toss in a few days here or there of “other stuff”. I hate only having a couple weeks of vacation a year.)
As I hinted earlier, this was taken with a little pocket point and shoot. A 3.2 megapixel in fact. I’ve said it many times before, but it definitely bears repeating: just because you don’t have a big fancy camera, you can still get some nice shots. It’s definitely true that there are things you can do with a fancy camera that you can’t with a point and shoot, but there’s no reason you need to let that hold you back.
Notes: Canon PowerShot S230 (Point and Shoot). 1/800s.
Popularity: 6%
June 24, 2010 – Snoqualmie Pass
Posted by Dave in Mountains, Picture of the Day, Washington State, Winter/Snow on June 24, 2010
View from Summit Central, Summit at Snoqualmie Ski Resort
Thursday, June 24, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=884
Apparently this week’s pattern is to post pictures from cameras of lower and lower quality each day. Monday, it was a photo from my most modern SLR body and the “new hotness” lens. Yesterday, it was my old SLR and my crappy lens. Today, it’s from a no-longer-current pocket point and shoot. Tomorrow? It’ll be a pencil sketch on notebook paper.
This was taken from near the bottom of the Summit Central ski area, which is one of four that make up the Summit At Snoqualmie. Summit Central was known as Ski Acres only a couple years before I moved out here, but that’s not relevant.
In other news, I suppose this is a fine opportunity to once again give a tepid encouragement for all of you to vote for me in the Blogger’s Choice Awards. For those of you who aren’t familiar with those awards, it’s a website where you can nominate yourself, and then tell all of your readers to go vote for you. Thus, it’s totally just a dirty trick to get folks like me to do their marketing for them. You have to register an account (with a valid email) to vote, so it seems pretty skeezeball. However, I *can* say that, since I gave them my email a year or so ago, they’ve never send me any kind of spam or anything. That’s not to say they won’t ever, but it’s definitely not QUITE as skeezeball as I expected it to be. The award itself is meaningless, but what ISN’T meaningless is the traffic they send to my page, simply by me being in the running. So, if you feel like helping a guy out, go ahead and vote for me. Here’s how:
1) Go to bloggerschoiceawards.com. I’m not going to link to it, because I don’t want to give them my linkjuice. But type that into your browser’s address bar, and create an account.
2) Go to the Best Photography Blog category. (Also, Best Travel Blog, Best Hobby Blog, and Best Blog About Stuff. I know, I know, shut up.)
3) Vote for me. At the time I’m writing this, I’m in second place.
Woo, thanks!
Notes: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS (Point and shoot). 1/250s, f/14.0, ISO 80.
Popularity: 10%
May 25, 2010 – Dogwood Blossoms
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on May 25, 2010
Dogwood Blossoms
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=277
Well, hey guys. How’s it goin? Yeah? Good to hear. Uhhh.. Have a good weekend? Great, great..
Here’s some dogwoods. I like dogwoods, they’re pretty. But for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to get a good picture of them since several years ago, and it’s really aggravating. I keep seeing nice looking dogwood trees, but then when I get close I realize there aren’t any nice blossoms down where I can reach them. Oh, also, they tend to be, you know, in people’s yards. So that would seem a little bit rude, to just go tromping around on somebody’s yard, and start snapping pictures right outside their living room window. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m totally not above doing that, I’m just afraid of shotguns.
Anyway, here’s a picture. Woo!
Notes: Canon PowerShot S500 (Point and shoot). 1/400s, f/4.9.
Popularity: 6%
May 5, 2010 – 7th Heaven
Posted by Dave in British Columbia, Mountains, Picture of the Day, Winter/Snow on May 5, 2010
7th Heaven, Blackcomb Mountain, Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=353
Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! I realized as I was tying that last sentence that today would have been a perfect day to post a picture from Mexico. I don’t have one handy though, and I’m not even entirely sure I have one at all. I’ve been there a couple times, but I’m not sure I got anything picture-of-the-day worthy while I was there. Sad. Instead, here’s a shot from our other North American pals, Canada.
This was shot in the 7th Heaven area of Blackcomb Mountain, at Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort. Those peaks in the distance are all part of Garibaldi Provincial Park, and that’s all I can think of to say about this picture.
In other news, one of my friends asked me yesterday for some camera advice, which isn’t that uncommon of an occurrence these days. After spending a decent amount of time writing up a fairly detailed response, which contained a lot of advice I’ve rehashed several times in the past, I realized that I might as well save that work for a larger audience. Thus, I posted it here on my blog. Â You can also find it by clicking “Camera advice?” up above. Â Note that this is in addition to the My Equipment page, which contains exactly what it sounds like it would. Note that this particular camera advice was somewhat tailored for somebody in my friend’s situation, which is that she was confident that she wanted to go the digital SLR route, but was wondering what to do about which one to pick, and what lenses to start off with. If you’re just in the market for a decent point and shoot, or a full-featured camera that’s not quite as much of a commitment as an SLR, obviously that advice won’t be really applicable. But, feel free to take a read, and set me straight if required.
Notes: Canon PowerShot S500 (Point and shoot). 1/800s, f/11.0.
Popularity: 11%