Inspiration

How my camera helped me create my wish list for 2021

Shelley

In the corners of my brain, I store a wish list of all the things I’d do if I had the time and money to do them. Nothing is really black and white on my list. I give myself wiggle room.

On and off over the years, I’ve had “get a new camera” on that list. I kind of love the camera I have. It’s been a trusty friend all these years. But I don’t know my trusty friend’s intimate details enough to break up with it yet. I don’t know how to make it work other than a few settings that I stumbled upon by accident when I play with it. So there’s plenty for me to learn.

Yesterday, I discovered a new YouTube channel that had a tutorial about the settings of a camera similar to mine. I have never really known how to change the settings so that it operates properly. Every photo up until our Christmas selfie this year was a guess and a chance. And many times it worked out in my favor. I sort of have a slight intuition about what works or not.

I just play.

As you can see, this weekend I learned how to play with the black and white setting. And how to set it back to the ‘normal’ setting I’ve had it on for years. I was hooked – it was fun!

Check out my play mates

  • Dessy and Tizzie and a shy little guy named Copper

They watched me dismantle the tree. I had my own little ball dropping New Year’s celebration. Plastic ornaments are the bomb!

The pets watched like angels while I put away another year of thoughts about the holidays and such.

Year after year, I get deep in thought when I put the decorations up and I do the same when I put them away. A ritual to the passing of time I guess. Another year flies by and the geese gathered to remind me it’ll be nice for humans to gather once again with friends and family someday. Oh how we’ll cackle and share stories about how we survived 2020.

Why do I wait to do those the things on my wish list I dream of doing someday? Mostly because I get side-tracked. Like I did with my bookkeeping in 2020. I was SO good at January and February, into March when all hell broke loose.

Other times, I talk myself out of doing something new for whatever reason seems the most plausible at the time. Will this year be different from the past ones? Will I stay current on my book-keeping? Will I challenge myself to learn new things? My new planner has captured a lofty goals list. I’ll walk a fine line as I keep my dreams aligned with reality. 2020 taught me not to be too rigid or too fragile.

So welcome to 2021, we’ll see what it brings that sparks my creativity. . .

Mother Nature sure took a chance on creating a new frosty look for us to admire this morning.

While I consider what will be for me in 2021, I wish you a day filled of wonderment and joy.

Hoar Frost according to the Farmer’s Almanac

Hoar frost is frost that resembles spiky hairs. This type of frost gets its name from the word “hoar,” which means “ancient,” because it resembles an old man’s bushy, white beard. It happens when water vapor freezes instantly after coming into contact with a very cold surface.

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s – Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “in the corner.” Write about whatever the image or thought of “in the corner” brings to mind. Have fun!

PS – What’s on your goal or wish list for the new year? How did you learn how to work settings on your camera? Have you seen fascinating hoar frost like in my photos?

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

33 thoughts on “How my camera helped me create my wish list for 2021”

    1. Thank you, Dan, glad you enjoyed the photos. Happy New Year to you – I love that moon photo you captured, nice job!

  2. Wonderful photos, Shelley! I too should dig deeper into the camera settings. Hoar frost is so cool looking.

  3. Great shots as always, Shelley! I know there are features on my camera I don’t know how to use yet too. Maybe I’ll give it a study. Happy New Year to you and the Mr.

    1. Thank you, Janet. Check out Paul at Photo Genius on YouTube. It was so nice to see your smiles as you gathered with your family for New Years. Hopefully that means your hubby is recovered and that the rest of you are COVID free! Happy New Year to you and yours! xx

  4. Yes Shelley, get out the camera and experiment. The manual should be available online which will give lots of insights to settings etc. Play away in 2021 and I mean with a camera 😀 😀

    1. Thank you for the encouragement, Brian. Silly me, I looked in the box and I still have the original manual and should probably read it. Yes, I intend to play with my camera more in 2021!

  5. Well, I don’t know how to change the setting on my camera to black and white! I have played around with it in Lightroom, but I didn’t know I should be able to change it on my camera! Hummmm 😕 Something to ponder! I do want a refresher on camera settings…
    Nice post!

    1. LOL – That’s what I’ve always done. I don’t have Ligthroom (but I want to try it for free to see if I’d use it) just the Windows Photo editor that I’d use a Vanilla filter to get B&W. It’s a game changer now that I know I can change the setting to B&W. The camera captures the photos faster in B&W. Give it a try and see what happens. I bet you have lots of scenes where B&W would look awesome. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Happy New Year to you and yours!

  6. I think a lot of people chuck their perfectly good cameras because “it doesn’t take good pictures” when, in actuality, the camera is just fine… it’s the operator who doesn’t know how to operate it. Anyway, good for you for searching out the information you needed, then practicing them. You took some really nice shots! That hoar frost is really interesting… I’m glad you explained it because I wouldn’t have known.

    1. I agree with you, Janis. It’s often operator error, and has been for me too. My camera is at least 10 years old and still works great and now is even more fun to use knowing there are more settings to experiment with.
      Glad you enjoyed the photos – yes, hoar frost an inch long isn’t common here. But when it shows up, it’s so beautiful. Each blade of hoar frost is extremely delicate, if you touch it it falls quickly. The trees were blowing in the wind and it looked like snow falling. Very enchanting.

    1. I was so enchanted by the hoar frost. It was like walking in a scene from Frozen. (Except, I can only imagine the movie, never watched it! LOL). I look forward to seeing what photos you take with your new camera and what camera you get.

  9. Not cold enough here to see much hoar frost–your photos are awesome! And they make me miss cold and snow. We hover in the cloudy 40s often here, cold enough to be uncomfortable but not cold enough for snow. I miss sledding and skiing. But, I guess it’s a good reason to stay inside. I want to finish my novel draft soon–58K in! I’ve got plans for it this year!

    1. Glad I could bring you some cold to help you dream of a skiing and sledding trip when your novel is done! WOW – 58k words, you inspire me!! You have big plans, and I’m sure you’ll accomplish much this year!!! xx

  10. I love the black-and-white photos Shelley and I did not know that you could adjust the camera to take B&W shots; I just assumed you added a color filter to the photo – you can do that in Shutterfly – add sepia or B&W, even colors. So that was interesting to learn and will tuck that away for my golden years. 🙂 The hoar frost pictures are fabulous! At first glance I thought it was one of those caterpillar moths with white spiny bristles that are poisonous. I saw one on a nature hike I took where we did sketching a few years ago. The bulbs were interesting – so much added dimention to them.

    1. Thank you for your feedback about the photos Linda. I had a hunch that I could change the settings, but never did it for fear that I wouldn’t be able to get it back to the settings I’ve become comfortable with. I took a chance and had some fun with it. I’m giving myself a week to play with B&W before trying another setting. Should keep me entertained for a bit.
      Yes, that hoar frost was amazing. I told my dad about it, and he said, “Ah, yes, I’ve seen that before, but it doesn’t happen often.” I remember that caterpillar drawing you’re talking about. I think you linked it to another post?
      Nature is full of photo ops – and critters like you find. Happy clicking to you!

      1. I had no idea you could do it … I read the book and most of the Dummies book for the Canon Rebel T6 … but the more I read, the more I was overwhelmed. Then I watched the Jared videos you told me about – information overload. I did think in 2020 I would try to use the camera manually, but too much going on with COVID to introduce new things. Funny, I would be afraid to twist the dial around too much in case it made the B&W your new default. 🙂 I am thankful for walking and taking photos right now – it is a welcome diversion during this pandemic.

        1. I had the same experience reading the manual. So I just experimented and fell into a routine that gives me satisfactory pictures. This year, I plan on spending more time learning what to do better than before when it comes to photography. Apparently, I’ve got plenty more to learn. That’ll be fun!
          Keep walking and taking photos – you’re right, it’s a great diversion from the not-so-wonderful parts of life right now. xx

          1. Well you lucked out and were smart to boot … I am going to do some other things too and continue using automatic for the DSLR and when I have more time and my mind is less muddled, then it is back-to-school time!

          2. I’m still learning every day! And you’re very creative with the skills you have now, watch out when you learn even more :-)!

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