Meet Stanley

Just over three years ago, I bought my first camera, a Canon Powershot SX10S and marveled for the first time learning how to control all of the various settings to produce beautiful images.

This was one of the first pictures I took with the sx10.  Needless to say, I've improved a bit since then, and Steve got a haircut.

By this time last year, I was ready to upgrade to a dSLR.  I'd learned a lot of basics and really no longer consider myself a beginner, but living in Saudi Arabia made that essentially impossible.  So I sucked it up and waited.  For a year.  It wasn't a totally wasted year though; I spent more time than I care to admit pouring over camera reviews, debating the merits of Canons vs. Nikons, and bouncing all of this off Allie.  At the end of it all, only one camera emerged victorious.  One of the biggest reasons I wanted/needed to upgrade is to have less noise at higher ISOs (when shooting in low light).  The picture above has a ton of noise and is only at iso 320.

I've been saving hard earned pennies for the last few months and was finally able to order my new camera, a Canon EOS 60D, or Stanley as he prefers to be called.

Catbear rocks out on the bathroom rug a lot these days.  I really can't blame her; this is the softest rug I've ever had.  Stanley does a great job in low light.  This is iso 2000 and there's no evidence of noise.  Hooray!   It's also infinitely easier to control manual focusing with Stanley, which was nearly impossible with the sx10.

I've still got a few accessories I'd like to get, but those will have to wait until after I start my new job in January.