***Amy|http://waltondammerunprwdot.org/g/*** was curious about what type of camera we used to get the photos in our gallery, so I figured I’d share some of that info in the form of a post.

Some of the very earliest photos in our gallery were shot with an APS-format ***Canon Elph LT-270|http://www.sureshotelph.com/elph/lt270/index.html*** film camera, printed, and scanned with a Canon scanner. This was used up through October of 2001. The camera itself was nice, but I had been wanting to go digital for a while, and the quality of the scanned images left something to be desired.

From mid-October 2001 to late-October 2003, we used a ***Nikon Coolpix 775|http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_cp775.asp***. This was a pretty decent camera. It took sharp pictures, had good color depth, and was very small and light. Major gripes were its low resolution, short battery life, and slow response time. We might still be using it, had I not lost it somewhere at Logan Airport. 🙁 The first album of photos shot with the 775 is ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/tsongas_center***, and the last is ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/san_francisco***.

After the loss of the Coolpix, I carefully evaluated all of the entry-level cameras on the market, and selected the ***Canon PowerShot A70|http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a70.asp***. This is the camera we have been using since late October. The A70 is all-around a terrific camera, with some excellent features such as full manual control over shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and focus. The A70 also uses Canon’s DiGIC image processing chip for some really fantastic color. Battery life is terrific, with four 2000-mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries, I can shoot several hundred photos without needing to change. The first album of photos shot with the A70 is ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/maine_parks***.

In terms of exposure, many of the outdoor, still landscape shots I take are shot with fully manual mode. I adjust the aperture and shutter settings while watching the scene in the LCD, in order to get the exact exposure I want. Other shots use mostly-automatic mode on the camera, except that I turn off the camera’s so-called “intelligent” autofocus mode, since it often chooses a subject other than the one I want to capture, and ends up making the photo look out-of-focus. I also try to be careful to select the white balance mode appropriately. One of the gripes about the A70 is that it’s AWB (auto white balance) isn’t always entirely accurate. For the laymen, this means that photos would come out looking a bit too yellow, for example. I try to find a white object to calibrate the white balance, or else pick one of the pre-set white balance modes

I also generally try to follow the ***rule of thirds|http://www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=5*** for composing photos, though as Captain Barbossa would say, “They’re more guidelines than rules”. 🙂 If I feel that a photo would have more impact by breaking the rule, then I go for it.

I hope you continue to enjoy our photos!