My daughters and I went on another of our camera safaris today. We had great
fun (and one near catastrophe). We went down to the Zilker Botanical
Gardens (in Zilker Park, for anyone that knows Austin). We went equipped:
Shannon (older 8 year old daughter) - OM-G with 50 f/3.5 macro
Shelby (younger 8 year old daughter) - OM-G with 50 f/2 macro (the reason
she had the better one will become apparant).
Dad (that would be me) - OM-4T, 90 f/2 macro, Sunpak ring flash (very nice
ringflash).
I put 400 speed in their cameras and just set them on f/4. Right now we're
still concentrating on focusing properly. I went with 100-speed (one Supra,
one Fuji).
We started off nicely, as they were having an orchid exhibition. It was
indoors, so the girls couldn't do much, but it was perfect for the
ringflash. I shot a number of shots of the orchids.
We then went outdoors and wandered around. Shannon insisted, against my
direct orders, on crossing one of the ponds by hopping rock to rock ---
missing that last rock by ever so little. She ended up knee deep in the
pond -- splashing pond water all over her camera and lens. Now you
understand why the younger daughter got the 50/2. In the end, I was able to
dry it off and everything was fine -- except my temper <g>.
We dropped the film off at the one-hour place. I didn't get prints for
mine, just negatives, so I don't know how I did yet. My scanner isn't setup
at the moment, so I'll have to reconnect it and scan away (unless that Nikon
just crys out to me -- hmm).
So, the 'daughter results'. Shelby's shots were fairly predictable. Maybe
5-6 good shots out of a 24 exposure roll. Those shots were quite nice, but
the rest were mainly blurry. She seems to have a combination problem of just
not focusing properly while also shaking the camera a lot. She understands,
so we'll work on it. Overall, not a bad start for her.
Shannon's shots, on the other hand, were really wonderful. She got a 36
exposure roll (to make up for my not getting the film loaded properly the
last time). She probably had 25 out of 36 really nice shots. She seems to
really get the idea of focusing carefully and slowly. She has some
beautiful flower shots with nice bokeh. I'm really pleased with the results
(water and all). She has a nice eye, maybe better than mine.
I think our next trip may be the zoo. I think I'll introduce either 75-150
or 100-200 zooms. More things to remember! Maybe I'll just stick with
135/3.5s.
It's really fun to pass this on to the girls. Part of me just wants to equip
them with decent digital cameras, but it just wouldn't be the same.
Tom
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