Ladybug, Ladybug Fly Away Home

I am not a real fan of digital cameras, at least not for serious photographic work. There are serious archival problems with digital that have not been addressed by any of the technologies in place to date. That's not to say that digital cameras are not useful - I do have one that I use a lot for quick reference photos. But for real serious photos I still rely on my film cameras. But, I digress from my intended purpose for this post.

The other day I was waiting for my lovely bride, enjoying the sunny afternoon when a tiny ladybug landed on the knee of my blue jeans. I decided to experiment with the macro mode of my little digital camera. It was touch and go, there, because the sun was quite bright and it was difficult to see the image on the view screen. The macro mode also requires a very steady hand or a tripod – since I didn’t have a tripod handy and if I did it would have been awkward to try and set it up to take a picture of my knee. So, it was to be a hand held operation. Several tries later and coaxing the poor ladybug to stay put I managed to get one sharp image.


For those interested the camera is a Canon PowerShot SD400 5mega pixel model. It has a macro mode and a 3x optical zoom and 12x digital zoom. It is a very small and compact camera – probably the main reason I bought it. I am happy with it for what I use it for.

Stop and Shoot the Cadillacs

I just received my copy of Danny’s new book and, of course, immediately began reading it. As I read I recalled an experience from my youth that seemed quite relevant .

Years ago while I was a young lad in the Navy, I used to travel home to visit my parents from time to time. I would usually drive even though it was quite a distance – about 1400 miles across the southern states on interstate highways 10 and 40. I would head west from my duty station in whatever car I owned at the time and drive straight through to my parents’ home in Albuquerque. This trip usually took about 23 – 24 hours (I was young, what can I say?). I was quite interested in photography at the time and had picked up a copy of Zoom magazine before one particular trip. I was perusing this issue during my visit and came across an article with photos of the infamous Cadillacs, forged between 1949 and 1963, half buried in a pasture in Texas (check out Cadillac Ranch for the rest of the story). I showed the photos to my Dad and mentioned that I would like to see them one day. He chuckled and told me that I drive right past them every time I come out for a visit. It seems that they are in a pasture right beside I-40 just outside of Amarillo. I was, needless to say, astounded that I had not noticed them before. I kept a sharp eye out for them on my way back and drove a bit slower as well. Sure enough there they were – 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in a row in the pasture on the south side of I-40. Since there wasn’t a fence or a ditch between I-40 and the frontage road I pulled right off without waiting for the next exit. I took my own pictures of these icons and vowed to pay more attention to the world as I passed through. I do pretty well now and then but as often as not I find myself concentrating on the destination and not really noticing the passing scenery.

One of the photos I took of the Cadillacs of Cadillac Ranch.