Saturday, May 31, 2014

Memory Card Treasures

Oh Happy Day!  My lake-dunked camera has revived!  After opening all compartments and removing battery pack and memory card and letting it sit in a warm dry spot for 5 days, I crossed my fingers, replaced the battery, held my breath and pressed the On/Off button. Ta Da!  My dear little Canon PowerShot S95 sprang to life once more! What adventures we have gone on together, and I am so very very happy to have it back.

As it happened, I kept a number of our adventures recorded in photos stored on the camera's memory card, and these I was able to revisit once more when the camera's power returned.  I kept them there because they were some of my favorites I liked to look at again and again, and to celebrate my camera's resurrection, I'm posting some of them here.

Many people are amazed to discover my photos are taken with a little camera about the size of a pack of cards, especially when it captures landscapes with such depth and clarity.

Here's a little red barn in a field in the Adirondacks.



White birches cast their reflections on an ice-covered Moreau Lake.



A lone golden Tamarack glows against dark-green conifers on the shore of Lens Lake.



My boots, my boat, and the beautiful Hudson River at Moreau



The river islands are lovely even in winter.




The Canon PowerShot S95 can also clearly capture closer kinds of beauty:

A carousel of gorgeous bi-colored Canada Lilies



Two sets of twins, these orange mushrooms and glossy-green Clintonia leaves sweetly compliment each other.



Autumn oak leaves float serenely over tiny pink flowers that were blooming away underwater.




How amazing that this Giant Swallowtail Butterfly held still for its portrait!



Even more amazing was that this tiny Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly held its wings open long enough for me to capture its beautiful wings on camera.



These splendidly-colored Milkweek Beetles were so engaged in what they were doing, they didn't resist when I poked my lens in close.




This White-marked Tussock Moth caterpillar chose a yellow-rimmed oak leaf to go with its personal color scheme.



This Milkweed Tiger Moth caterpillar sports some colorful tiger stripes to announce its toxicity to predators.




The Great Golden Digger Wasp sports colors to match the brilliant orange of Butterflyweed.




Oh, I didn't try to get too close to this angry Snapping Turtle, who didn't appreciate my efforts to move her off a busy highway.




Some of our more colorful fungi:  Turkeytail Polypore in a lovely blue variant



The button stage of American Caesar Mushroom, just emerging from its egg-like cup



A pair of American Caesars at a later stage of maturity




Some scenes of Pyramid Lake, my spiritual home and one of the loveliest places in the Adirondack Mountains:


Venus's reflection floats on the dark still water shortly after sunset.



Mist rises from the lake on an October dawn.



Morning fog makes the island appear as if floating on a cloud.



Absolute silence, absolute serenity, under a soft full moon


Thank you, my dear little camera, my constant companion, for recording such scenes to remind me of so much I have to treasure.

Now I can't wait to get out in the woods and back on the waterways to record a host of new treasures.

11 comments:

Uta said...

What a way to start the day looking at your beautiful pictures. I enjoy them so much and can't wait for the next ones.

threecollie said...

So glad to hear that your camera was saved! And what awesome photos!

The Furry Gnome said...

No wonder you like to look through your old pictures! They're amazing and beautiful. You have developed the habit of being out there when the light is best, and get some great shots as a result. That little camera is doing a great job in your hands! And such wonderful places to visit.

Andrew Lane Gibson said...

So happy your camera ended up being tougher and more durable than imagined! It does such a lovely job of capturing the sites and images you see and share. I think I can speak for everyone when I say I can't wait for what's all yet to come from it :)

Wayne said...

Yay! I had a feeling your camera would dry out and recover. Glad you tried it out this soon. A friend's Nikon D2S took a dive, and he left on a shelf for nine months before he discovered that it works fine.

Your memory card does indeed hold treasures (I'm sure they are all safely backed up elsewhere.) Looking at them reminds me of several photographic adages:
-- "It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument."
-- "f/8 and be there" (If you are not familiar with this one, it helps to interpret "f/8" as "fate," meaning that being there is more important than the technical aspects of photography.)

...and especially two quotes that apply so well to you personally:
-- "Which of my photographs is my favourite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow." (Imogen Cunningham); and
-- "Photography is a love affair with life." (Burk Uzzle)

Woody Meristem said...

Beautiful, beautiful photos! Can't say enough good things about Canon cameras.

catharus said...

Wonderful! Yes, I've been very impressed with that little S95 of yours and what you can do with it!
Thank-you as always!

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Oh, dear friends, it gives me great joy to read all your encouraging comments. Thank you, thank you for reminding me why I publish this blog: not to hoard these splendid natural wonders to myself, but to share them with all who might enjoy seeing them too.

How apt is the quote Wayne shared with us: "Photography is a love affair with life." Yes, yes, yes! And my blog is my way of spreading that love around. Thank you for confirming me in this effort.

Ruahine said...

Kia ora,
Ataahua! Nice to get those moments back. I went through a similar experience when wading a mountain river trying to get close to a pair of whio (native ducks) my camera in a flash of silvery light went from my hand to the bottom of a clear pool. Drying it out proved mostly successful, but the card worked and I saved the photos. Now I download them straight away. Cheers!

Yonder Man said...

do you do library programs or would you rather not?

Yonder Man said...

do you do library programs, or would you rather not? I'm from the Hadley Luzerne Library and I'm seeing how stunning your work would be