Wretched Excess

Well, I've been and gone and done it. After months of dithering about and trying to decide which single lens reflex digital camera and which lens and where to purchase same, I bit the bullet and made the decisions.

I'm normally a rather frugal sort and spending big money (at least, it seems big to me) isn't easy. But after pouring over info on cameras and lenses till my brain hurt and then finding myself one evening typing Vicki Lens instead of Vicki Lane, it seemed like this unfulfilled obsession was getting the better of me.

So I spent an interesting few days exchanging emails with a very patient Morris Abrams at Adorama Camera in New York till finally we spoke on the phone.

He talked fast, I talked slow, and at some point we commented on the different paces of life in our respective homes. He continued to be patient with me and took my order in a New York minute.

That was Wednesday.

To my surprise, on Friday, UPS brought me a great big box from Adorama and I began carefully unpacking and trying to figure things out. Cory, my professional photographer friend, who is usually out visiting Justin on Saturdays wasn't coming out this weekend. John, too, was away.

I was On My Own in an unknown world.

I found the instructions fairly challenging . . .

. . . but after about twenty minutes I did manage to attach the camera strap.

Find battery and charger. Charge battery. Check

I also attached the lens without hurting myself or the camera. The lens is a hulking 18-200 that will give me both close up and zoom capabilities without having to switch lenses. Pretty slick!

And then there was a filter. Drat, it's not the right size, I fumed, trying to screw it on upside down.

When the battery was charged, I inserted it, turned the camera on and chose ENGLISH as the language setting, EST for time zone, and set the date and time.

And then realized that camera didn't come with a card. Luckily Justin had come up to the house and he suggested that I use the card out of my little Lumix. Crisis averted!


By then, my brain had had all it could take and it was late so I went to bed.

The next morning I was ready to tackle the learning process in a hands on way.


My friend Vic emailed me some suggestions but I was too eager to figure out all those words.



I just wanted to take some pictures!













So I was out the door, new camera in hand










I'll fine tune later.


This is fun.