The Camera

I enjoyed walking 4.2 miles in the UPS district this afternoon. A heavy rain fell around noon, but then the NW clouds thinned slowly to brilliant sunshine by late afternoon, and that after-the-rain air was a treat.

My sympathies to the folks trying to hold one last autumn yard sale today. At midday sellers had to scurry to get remaining moisture-sensitive items under cover. By the time I arrived at N 15th and Oakes streets, the rains had finished and the sales were winding down, but I looked in on one backyard sale and enjoyed chatting with Brenda. I bought a jacket for our new grandson, and enjoyed seeing some original pottery that hadn't sold yet. Brenda asked about the camera I was using, so we chatted about that and I took a picture of her daughter, Ava.
The camera I use is the Nikon Coolpix 8700. This digital 8MP model originally priced at $999 now sells new for $450. (I'd love to have a second one, though I'll probably spring for the slightly newer Nikon Coolpix 8800 when the time comes.)
I love everything about the 8700. It fits very lightly and comfortably in my hand, has astounding versatility (note how you can flip the monitor completely around to face the same direction as the lens), and has automatic modes for snapping pictures that I wouldn't know how to take manually. As an example of a photo I wouldn't have expected to turn out, here's the Pieta window I found in a dark landing of the Church of St. Patrick on N 12th and J:
By the way, Sue at Turning Point tells me that the Walking Tacoma blog has inspired one of her daughters to start carrying her camera with her more often. Thanks for the compliment, young lady; I wish you beautiful memories! And thanks for the encouragement, Turning Point!