Tuesday, December 13, 2022

The Christmas Gift

 Tim and I are pretty much finished with our Christmas shopping for the year, which is a record. We just needed to buy our gifts for each other. 

Tim is the sort of person who gives you a list of things that he wants and lets you pick what you're going to buy him. He expects the same from me. I'm one of those sappy beings who loves to be surprised. Tim does not like surprises. Over the course of 25 years, I've made my peace with it. He is what he is and it is silly to be upset with what he isn't. It's also easier now that the kids are grown. I do get my surprises at Christmas. 

He was watching his Sunday football and during a commercial, he said "So what do you want for Christmas?" and he waited, like he always does.

I said, "I don't know."

Really, we sort of exchanged presents at the beginning of the month. (Me: Home electrolysis unit, him: a pair of sitka hunting pants) I had said, "I'm so tired of these random hairs on my chin...this is what I want for Christmas," and he said, "I need something that keeps me warm in the blind. These are marked down $100, so this is what I want for Christmas" and voila. Christmas for two old hairy, cold folks. 

And now here he was asking me what I wanted for Christmas. I thought about it and could not think of anything. He thought of it and he couldn't think of anything he wanted either. His commercials ended and he went back to his football. 

I sat there thinking about it for a while and suddenly I got an idea. The next time a commercial came on, I said, "You have wanted a nice camera since you saw the river pictures that Jim's posting on facebook." 

He looked thoughtful.

I said, "You want to go to Florida this spring. Cara and Colin will be home for Christmas and we will have all three of them under one roof for the first time in a lot of years. We'll probably go to England again at some point this summer. Maybe we should just bite the bullet and get ourselves a good camera and learn how to use it." 

He said, "That's an idea..." 

And so we looked at ad after ad, and we bounced ideas around with my son who has a nice camera. Lucky for the photobloggers that I follow that I didn't have you on speed dial. 

In the end, we went with this:



It is described as a good starter camera, with zoom and wide angle lenses and light filters along with the instructions. Two of the kids and their spouses have good cameras of their own and will be able to help two learners. 

Two old dogs are about to learn new tricks.

Hopefully.



36 comments:

  1. That looks very good. I found the last camera a bought was just too heavy to carry around in my pockets and so I mostly use my phone now. The camera only shines because it has optical zoom. My phone handles indoor and low light better than my camera on the auto setting. Yes, I know I should learn to use it properly, but I haven't.

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    1. Your camera takes nice pictures, though. I enjoy your blog.

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  2. That looks a cracker and you'll have great fun learning how to use it.

    Coming to England next year? Oooh, exciting. Which bits?

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    1. I would love to be able to take good pictures.

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  3. Yes indeed..I agree with BB a good make....and where?!!

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  4. P was a very keen photographer at one time and had a good camera with all the bells and whistles but, like Andrew, found it all too much to carry around when travelling.
    I now just use my phone camera which is not as good but more convenient.
    Hope you enjoy learning your new skills and show us the results.

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    1. If my phone camera was a good camera, I'd probably do the same.But, alas, my cheap android phone takes crap pictures too.

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  5. I have an older Canon EOS Rebel T(something). While I like it and it takes very good pictures, it mostly gathers dust unless I need to use my 200mm lens. The camera on my phone is not as good but for 99.9% of the pictures I take, it is more than adequate and always with me.

    My wife will mention something that would be nice to have randomly throughout the year and I will look them up on Amazon and put them on my wishlist for later. That way I can "surprise" her with a gift and the fact that I was listening. She struggles with buying things for me for Christmas so I usually just buy my own gift.

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    1. Dylan has a T3i. He said that the T7 was not a camera we would be disappointed with and he gave us a little talk about what the cameras can do. So...we went with it.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. That's wonderful! You know how much I love taking photos, it's how I see the world. Can't wait to see your photos.

    I deleted the previous comment because somehow my finger hit publish before I was finished.

    My husband and I are the same way. Neither of us need anything and anything we want, we buy. He bought himself a new sound bar for Christmas. I have no idea what I want but I would like a small surprise under the tree:)

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    1. I have no idea what a sound bar is. I hope this turns into a hobby I love.

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    2. A sound bar is speakers for the TV.

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  8. Kay of Musings: I hate to tell you this, but this is the reason we upgraded our iPhones this month. We’re taking a bunch of trips in 2023 and always use only our phones now for photos. They actually seem to take better photos than my older Canon. And this way I don’t have to carry the cumbersome camera and camera bag. The only reason I would wish I had my Canon used to be so I could have the 50X zoom, but I’m OK with not having that now. The phone can also take some close-ups so for my abilities, it’s good enough.

    And Christmas gifts? Sigh… Art and I gave that up a long time ago. If we want something we’ll just say, “This is my Christmas present.” 😂

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    1. Kay of Musings: My problem is that my brain can’t handle the ins and outs of the Canon. I’m embarrassed to admit that. I see Anvilcloud’s photos and he’s able to do so much more with his actual camera. It’s wonderful you’ve got several family members who can teach you. That will be great for your brain. Eventually, you can teach all of us. Our friend, Dave is a photographer and you can bet he’ll be taking his long lens new super camera he bought for the safari that he and Art are planning to go on in 2023.

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    2. We've always just used a little point and shoot, but the pictures are crap, and even worse, the cameras don't seem to last.

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  9. You are going to be able to take some great photos for your blog Debby.

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  10. We usually purchased something that we both wanted, a little trip, something for the house or just something we would not just go out and buy every day.

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    1. I guess that's kind of where we are at. Now that we are downsizing, we really just don't want (or need) stuff.

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  11. You are more than learners when you buy this equipment. You've picked some very good stuff. Enjoy.

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    1. I know there are classes. If we run into problems, we can just sign up for a class.

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  12. You will really enjoy this, I am sure! I have a Canon. It is a terrific hobby.

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    1. Tim has been hugely interested in it since one of our tenants has begun posting his wildlife pictures from the river behind his house.

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  13. Phone cameras are great but nothing beats a real one. You will have a ball with this.

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  14. Buy an extra battery so you can switch when you are out taking photos and the battery goes flat. The camera comes with a battery charger? mine did (also a canon) and it's handy to have that spare battery, you can recharge both overnight.

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  15. Nice kit! When I bought my Nikon, I found a "Dummies" book that was really helpful in learning the ins and outs. Renee in Tulsa

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    1. I see they have a book for dummies specifically for this camera. I had no clue. Thanks for this tangent, Renee.

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  16. You got a lot of gear all at once. Take your time with it.

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    1. Yeah. We considered just getting the camera body, but this was such a deal for about $60 more. Tim really wanted the telephoto lens and buying it separately didn't make sense.

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  17. I have a Canon and I think that's a good choice. Especially if you're also getting all those accessories! I look forward to seeing some dramatic new photography. :)

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