two snaps

My other most used tool is my Canon Powershot SD200 (Elph) digital camera. This little guy has changed the way I do things, and I'm sorry it took me so long to get on the bandwagon.

I used to have a big old Ricoh camera. Downloading pics was a lot of work. The thing was too big to carry easily and it ate batteries. And after I downloaded pics to my computer, which in itself was a hassle, there was nothing I could do with them. We had a great Nikon Coolpix camera at work, but it was so complicated that none of us ever ended up using it. I basically found myself feeling like digital cameras where a big hassle with little return. One of my designers told me to get this one. It was on sale cheap. I used his at a ballgame and found it suprisingly easy. I went for it.

Now, I can't say that I can completely recommend it - because I've had to buy three of them. The other two broke - the second one within the first month of having it. Luckily, all were fixed under warranty, but a google search shows a lot of people having problems with the LED screen breaking soon after getting it. Oddly enough, like me, a lot of the same people love the camera anyway because its so easy to use. At least 4 of my friends have the same camera, and none of them have had any problems with theirs - so make your own call in that regard. And if you use a Mac, like any piece of hardware you attach to it, there's no need to download any software to use it. Plug it in to the Mac, and it automatically works.

This little cam is light. It fits in my pocket. And it takes some pretty good pics. And nowadays, there are tons of easy ways to make online photo albums, print them, or post them to - uh - blogs. About a year ago, I did a presentation for a design seminar - I shot every image for it on this camera, popped em into my computer, and edited and animated them using only AfterEffects. No crew, no transfer, no post production house. Just me. Able to take my vision and bring it to life.

Its liberating. I can, and do, carry it almost everywhere. Anytime I see something that strikes me, I can snap it. And share it.