Christmas Tuna

Kids, you tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson . . . never try. -- Homer Simpson

Twas the night before the night before Christmas. Except for vacations, most of my photography for the past too many years has been devoted to the photos I've taken of my Wilmington NC real estate listings.

Even though I should know better, I have often missed the photo opportunity because I lacked one essential tool -- fresh batteries. Digital cameras can burn through batteries pretty quickly, especially when the LCD is in constant use. Many cameras use AA batteries, but some have a battery that is proprietary to a particular camera. With AA's, it's cheap and easy to buy re-chargeable batteries. And, what's nice about AA's is that, if the re-chargeables conk out, you can buy AA's just about anywhere. You won't be so lucky with a camera specific battery, so make sure that you keep the battery charged. With my real estate shots, dead batteries are just an incovenience, but if you're trying to capture a special one-of-a-kind event and the batteries die, you're SOL.

While we're talking about the camera itself, make sure that you keep the lens clean. Fingerprints on the lens will ruin your images. Photo stores sell special cloths for cleaning the lens, but I find that the soft cloth I use to clean my glasses works well on the lens and the LCD screen. Your shirt tail is not the ideal lens cleaning instrument. Try to blow off as much dust first so that you are not grinding grit into and scratching the lens.

Remember, the absolute best thing about digital photography is that you can keep on taking photos. No film to buy or change. No film processing. Don't be stingy. Take lots of photos, save what you like and discard the rest. Homer Simpson notwithstanding, try to take some great photos this Christmas season. You'll make great memories in the process.

Merry Christmas. Scoot Tuna.