Lynne and Dick

We went to see Lynne and Dick this afternoon. They moved here from Montana 10 years ago when Lynne became the Principal at my school. She retired this June after accomplishing many wonderful things at IRPS. She will be greatly missed. As part of their retirement they planned to move back to Montana. They put their house up for sale and it sold quickly, which is unusual considering the current market. Dick had a stoke in May, and though he is doing better, there are still things he can't do, like get up on a ladder. We went over today to help Lynne with a few things that needed doing. We have enjoyed their company over the years and will miss them both. We are looking forward to visiting them in Montana.

Photo by Karen Mullen

New Cameras

Several years ago I bought a new camera. It was a Panasonic Lumix TZ1. It was probably the best camera I have ever had. Since then I have recommended it to many of my family and friends, who have also bought it. That would be Karen, Rosemary, Cathie, Liz, Amber, Jodie and Jen K. After Cathie got hers we got together for a camera day so we could familiarize ourselves with all the features. Well, here we are many years later and it's time for a new camera. My old one has taken many, many pictures and is starting to act up. Of course it doesn't help that I slightly abuse it by taking it clam digging and getting sand in the zoom lens and etc. So, Cost Co had the Panasonic Lumix ZS6 with a $50.00 off coupon. How could I resist. There are a couple things I have to have in a camera and that is a good zoom and macro. This camera has both. In auto mode I have a 24.9 optical zoom. WOW! I never use the digital zoom. The macro also has a zoom feature I really like. So, I was off to Cost Co. I told Cathie I was getting it and she said she would too. Now Karen wants one, in red, and Rosemary is also thinking about upgrading again. We are all loyal fans! So, the point of this story is that Cathie wanted to get together, just like we did before, and have a camera day. We did, and here are some of our pictures.

Here is Cathie with her new camera. I tried a setting called pin hole, that is why you see the dark shadows in the corners. It looks like it also mutes the colors. I may have to experiment with this one some more.
Of course we had to try the self portrait feature. We are getting pretty good at taking pictures of ourselves. We are even centered!

The sun was out and the roses were beautiful, so of course we had to try the close up feature. It's one of my favorites. I got to experiment with the macro zoom, which is a feature I think I will really use. Often times when you are taking pictures close up the camera gets in the way of the natural light and creates shadows. I can now be back a little further and zoom in. Great feature!