So Much for the Coolpix Challenge. Well….Maybe not.

I lost my Coolpix 9100 somewhere in Italy, I think in Tuscany, between Florence and Sienna.

For the first several days in Rome I took it everywhere, shot whatever stuck me, but the S9100 I found has so many limitations. 

I often became frustrated, especially at  night when the demands of shutter spend and aperture become more pressing.

What I wanted to capture and what the Coolpix was able to capture were so different. Rome is beautiful at night.

After four, five days, I took out my DSLR and snapped a bunch of shots (none of which are featured here, not now).

It felt so much more comfortable, and I was happy to  have control over how much light I could let in. In fact, when I discovered that my Coolpix S9100 was lost somewhere in Tuscany, I didn’t feel too bad. Felt, in fact, kind of relieved.

I wondered if on some level I had lost the camera on purpose, although I don’t think I did.

In fact, I remember telling myself, “Do not lose the camera just so you can buy a better one.”

These shots of Italy are done with the S9100.

There are hundreds of more, of course, but these particular ones I felt came closet to capturing what I wanted to capture, or to seeing the way I wanted to see.

Also, taking photos is like writing poetry. You could write thousands of lines, and if you come up with just one or two good ones, well then you’re doing all right.

I’m  not sure if I found a photographic voice yet, but I like shooting people better than things., although I must admit an attraction to empty chairs and old doors. 

Like paintings, I enjoy those that have people in them over landscapes, although I can certainly appreciate beauty in those as well.

Before I lost the camera, I knew that there were superior point-and-shoots, so when I got to Paris I bought a Coolpix 310.  It’s great. 

It has manual capability, wherein I can choose my own shutter speed and aperture, something the S9100 wouldn’t allow.

The only weakness is that it doesn’t shoot in raw. 

Still, I feel so much more freedom with the new point-and-shoot, and it’s small enough to put it in my pocket and pull it out when the spirit moves me.

Surprised to see so many tourists using their iPads to shoot.

Here are some shots that I took in here Paris.

Yesterday I walked for hours, and whenever a little voice inside of me said, take this picture, I did. Even when I thought the little voice was wrong.

So the challenge is on.

Will I find that this new point-and-shoot lives up to the DSLR?

Next I’ll post some Italy pictures I took with the DSLR.