You know, insurance used to be pretty simple, didn’t it? You had house insurance, life insurance and if you were lucky, you had affordable health insurance. If you weren’t so lucky, then your doctor probably accepted goods in trade, and you could barter for what you needed. These days, it gets a bit more complicated: travel insurance, liability insurance, special insurance riders to cover certain more expensive items (not just a warranty, I mean actual insurance).

So, here’s a question for you. If I fall and break my leg, but in my fall, I bust up my spendy camera, which agent do I call first? Maybe if I got my health insurance online, then I can use the computer to handle that claim, while I use the phone to call on the camera.

But I need to actually buy that spendy camera first, don’t you think?

You know how when you tell someone more than they ever wanted to know about you, and they say “TMI”? Sometimes I feel the way about the internet. From Fenphedra reviews to camera reviews, there’s just so much information that it can result in overload. I suggest you find a few sites you trust, and they should most likely be sites run by folks whose photographs you enjoy. Then search to find out what they think. Or ask them, if you are comfortable doing so. Alternately, do a google blog search for the camera you interested in, and you’ll find reviews from actual users; they’ll just be called blog posts instead of reviews

That’s how long it’s been since I got over here and posted. Ever noticed how cyclical life is? Kinda like those treadmills, you just keep going and going and going, but if feels like you never get anywhere, and then one day, you step off the thing 20 pounds lighter, with a spring in your step, ready to take on the whole world, and record the conquerage in pictures??? Yeah, well. I’m still on it. But I’ll be getting off soon, and then I plan to totally kick butt.

I saw something today that I am happy to heartily endorse, especially for those of you with high end cameras. Pacsafe makes a digital camera bag. If you are not familiar with the Pacsafe brand, their bags are designed to be thief and tamper proof. They are a little spendier than other bags, but security is pretty much priceless, right?

You forgot to call and remind me to take the camera. I remembered, of course. Just about the time I rounded the corner and saw the martin house making a statement in the criss cross of the powerlines. Just beyond that was a blanket of red azalea leaves on a sheet of green grass. For the record, there were no vagrant sandals and no Franke sinks, but that sure woulda been a nice shot of the bird house, yk?

I keep meaning to take my camera when I go on my daily walk, and I keep forgetting. And almost every day, I see something worth sharing. Today, I was a piece of metal trash, but there were 2 discolorations on it that looked like eyes, so the whole thing looked like some metal caterpillar. Just goes to show that you don’t have to call royal caribbean to see things worth snapping–there’s plenty to shoot in your own neighborhood! So, tomorrow, call me and remind me to grab the cam, K?

This is a trick for those of us who look a little heavier in pictures than we’d like. We know who we are. We have high priced sneaks in the closet and ellipticals in the corner, and we just can’t find time to use them. Well, apparently, if you turn your feet sideways, you look thinner. So, is that out like a penguin sideways? Or just not the same way your face is pointing sideways? And does it work in real life, or just for pictures?

So you get harsh shadows in your outdoor portraits? One of the hardest things for me to remember is to make the flash fire even outside. Not always, of course, but if your subjects are ending up with deep lines and dark circles, using the fill flash is most likely a better option than telling them to buy wrinkle cream or put on more makeup. Of course, an even better oprion is to just wait for a slightly overcast day, because then they aren’t squinting, either!

Here’s another camera question. These days, a lot of cameras come with the ability to view your photos on your television screen. I assume they use HDMI cables for that, but that’s not the question. My question is, do you use the feature? Is it worth paying more for a camera that offers it? And if two cameras are the same price and one offers this and the offers a different feature, is this one useful enough to even weigh in the decision?

In the past, when I have camera shopped, I have been particular in making sure that I could use my old memory cards in the new camera. It was one of the first criteria that I used to weed out the contenders, along with battery requirements. AA and SD or nothing. I am not so sure that’s as important as I used to think it was. Especially considering the mistake I made last time. My camera does indeed use my old cards, and it does take the AA batteries. But it doesn’t have any internal memory at all. No card, no picture. Period. Can’t even tell you how many shots I’ve missed because the card was in the computer.