Afternoon Observer

Oooh, looking forward to Mississippi photos...my father's family is from Mississippi (Yazoo City/Jackson area) and I have fond memories of visits there when I was a kid.

Have fun!

(as for the tornado, no thanks...I'll look at YOUR photos from the safety of earthquake-ridden California thankyouverymuch.)

I have a Sony DSC F828 that I try to use. My friend has helped me with trying to use the manual settings - with mixed results. The little point and shoot gets the most use as it is the easiest to have handy. Photosnobbery, now that is funny! My favorite photos are never the ones my camera savvy friends think are the best, but, the ones taken on the fly and unplanned.

I am going to visit my friends in Mississippi at the end of the month. Maybe I will get a decent shot or two. My favorite pictures ever were taken with an old Minolta years ago. We we driving through Tennesse and happened across a tornado. After coming out of the ditch I took two rolls of the mess it left. LOL I sure did not worry about focus, lighting, etc. I was so freaked out I just went snap snap snap.

I do enjoy the photos posted here.

Point and shoot cameras are great and getting better! Thank you so much for your kind words -- I was just thinking that these photos didn't really get to the level I wanted them to. I was literally shooting straight up into the air with the zoom fully extended and not paying attention to the lighting, and they ended up being backlit and a bit fuzzy as a result, so it's really good to know that you're enjoying them.

I only have one secret to photos -- take tons of them. Digital photos make that so much easier and cheaper, and if you have a little camera that you can keep with you, you'll be surprised at the opportunities to capture some little thing. As time goes on a few of those will be awesome shots and you'll find yourself looking for more opportunities. ;-)

Don't get stuck in the photosnobbery stuff with the big lenses and DSLR and all that. I love my D70 because of the flexibility and power, but some of the best shots I've ever taken were with my little Olympus point and shoot. What drives me absolutely nuts is NOT having a camera with me when some very cool shot is right in front of me, which happens more often with my D70 than it ever did before. It's a lot harder to carry a big bulky backpack with me than a little camera. :)

DnW

I just wanted to let you know how wonderful your photos are. I wish I could mine to come out this good. I have camera and limited knowledge. Most of the time I use my little point and shoot WP Optio because it is idiot proof, and water (coffee) proof. Thank you for posting the great pictures.