I did some research, and settled on the Canon 300 HS.

It’s the sleekest compact camera in the market at this time, and at 141 grams weights in at practically nothing at all. It’s fun to use with interesting shooting features and the HS system is supposed to deliver high quality pictures in low-light. Even though it’s “0nly” 10.1 megapixels (still plenty for printing at most standard sizes), have been clear and not too noisy.

The miniature feature imitates the look of a tilt-shift lens... it has all the typical shooting features plus some trendy and interesting looks

toy camera effect, but disappointingly there is no light leakage although it has the classic vignetting and desaturated colour of a typical little plastic camera

Fisheye lens.. <3

My favourite is definitely the imitation tilt-shift lens look to make things look miniature. Here’s a nice night photo (low-light) with tilt-shift effect

All in all, the camera delivers what I expected and more. I have always enjoyed the macro mode on my old Canon SD 790 IS, and all of its shooting features, etc… the 300 HS takes all those features to the next level. Though of course it doesn’t have all the functionality of my Canon 40D (no compact camera can ever really replicate a DSLR), it’s nice to have a reliable camera with a bit more versatility for group shots and macros without changing lenses and all the fuss. Fun times to come!

How do you play if you don’t have cats? Well, easy. Just substitute the shadow of your fingers (never actually use your own fingers or toes to play unless you like them to be nipped) or some sort of cat toy. Stick the toy into the side of the door or under the door while your cat is passing by and watch the fun begin… not a cheap cat toy but a FREE cat toy ^_^ joy.

• cats
• food
• cats eating food
• babies
• electronics
• doors/porches
• materials (like wood etc)
• scenery

So here are the pictures from the past three days:

That’s right.. scenery! and cats and food as usual.

Today, I proposed that we do some photographic exercises to help us improve. Here’s the idea:

One subject/theme, 20 pictures in a week and then we bring them, show them, and pick our favourites from each others’ sets.

I think it’s such a great idea. It forces you to push yourself a little bit, take yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s positive and fun. After all, the exchange of ideas is interesting and informative. It teaches you to think in different ways. I’d love to see other people’s creativity and the different interpretations of a theme. And who doesn’t want to hear how other people like your work and what they think is best? I’m so often prejudiced about my work, it would be great to be in a community of people who can talk about what they’ve done.

Sound simple? Sound fun? Well, there are so many excuses. “It takes too much time.” “It’s too difficult.” “I’m not a great photographer.” “I don’t know what I’d do.”

But honestly, before I can say anything to anyone about the amount of work that photography is, I have to take a real look at how much time and effort I’m putting into my photography. Am I really trying to improve? Am I trying to interpret and push and work? At the very least, am I putting my photographs out there and looking at them seriously to see what is good and what is bad?

Therefore, despite all my trepidation and dislike for my only photograph of today.. here it is.

Soondubu Chigae

1. Chop up some chicken or pork or beef into slices. Also chop a quarter of an onion into quarter inch pieces.
2. Fry the meat and onion in the bottom of a pot until onions slightly translucent.
3. Add water to pot with granulated dashi stock with 2 tsp ground chili and t tsp fish sauce.
4. Allow the mixture to come to a boil. Meanwhile, cut soft tofu into large pieces and optionally cut up some vegetables into 1 inch pieces.
5. When boiling, add the veggies and tofu, some kimchi, if desired, three frozen shrimp and one egg.
6. Allow to boil for a short while longer, then serve! Yummmmm

For dinner, I made congee (as usual when sick it’s the best thing for settling the stomach and feeling better).

I’ve posted the recipe before here, but I just wanted to add a word about condiments:

- preserved olive leaves — they have a sort of salty taste and come packaged in a bit of olive oil. If you are not going to add salt to your congee, this is a great little bit of flavour.

- pork floss or fish floss — it sounds gross in English, but the floss is really just dried pork or fish. It gets a little soggy if you mix it in (which some people like) but I leave it on top and mix it with each spoonful.

- fermented tofu — again this sounds gross, and probably looks gross to most people. But it has a unique flavour.

So it costs less than $5 to buy a cat grass starter set with a pot and seeds and dirt in it.. and there are so many seeds! Tuesday especially seems to really enjoy cat grass and she played with it yesterday for 20 minutes straight, so that’s not bad at all. It also gives her something to chew on that isn’t my cactus or the reusable grocery bags.

Actually, though they chew it, they haven’t taken any chunks off of it, which is great. I am a bit afraid that they’ll eat parts of it, but so far so good!

On the other hand, I still haven’t established how I feel about taking photographs at someone’s weddings. It seems sort of awkward to post pictures of another person’s party on Facebook or here on my blog, and it’s very difficult vying for the best shot and so on. Also, I definitely am not at the same level as others in my group of friends, but some people think I’m better than I am so there’s a bit of pressure. Then again, the only way to get better is to practice? It all just seems strange and difficult and untoward. Of course, I could just not think about it. I could just do whatever pleases me. ^_^ Ah, overanalysis… my truest talent.