First Posting - with introductory remarks

My name is Jim Mahood, and I like to take pictures. I also like to write. In the belief that it is important to share the things we are able to create, here you have this blog. I have always enjoyed taking pictures and exercising a little creativity, but the hassle of roll film - even in the Instamatics of later years - kept me from pursuing photography as a hobby to any serious degree. The instant result and creative potential of working with images on a computer in the digital age (instead of a smelly dark room or trips to Walmart) changed all of that. 

The photos that you will see in the beginning posts were taken with either the FujiFilm FinePix 3800 or the FujiFilm FinePix S7000 point-and-shoots. In June of 2010 I bought a Nikon D300s, dubbed the "Big Cahuna", so pictures with that body grew into the blog.  I am strictly an amateur, a hobbyist, that loves tinkering post-capture as well as in the field.

The format is this: for each entry I will post a picture and (maybe) tell the story behind it. Then, if there is another story or something else that I feel like sharing, it will be written below.

I am not an expert picture taker by any means, so welcome your critiques and suggestions. Feel free to post comments, which will all be read.

The picture that you see in this first post was taken at the Houston Arboretum in Memorial Park. I went out with two friends from church and captured this at the entry way. It was a great outing because for the first time since taking on this hobby I was with others who understood the mindset of the photographer. Instead of getting moans and rolling eyes, my friends stood patiently nearby while I spent time getting just the right shot of, say, the bark of a pine tree. Thanks guys...
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I became a real FujiFilm fan when two things happened to my first camera, the FinePix 3800. First, I was in church disconnecting it from a tripod when it slipped from my grasp and fell to the floor. There was a carpet, but it was the real thin kind, and it landed with a thud that I was sure would break something. To my surprise, it continued to function like new.

The second event convinced me even more that Fujifilm is a good product. I was canoeing in the upper Guadalupe River with a nephew when we capsized in some rapids. The camera was in its case, and the case had been placed in its "waterproof" bag with the drawstring (tied to a gunwale), but water and silt still got in; when we made it to shore and opened the camera case the water was pooled and sloshing around the bottom.  The story of exactly how that canoe capsized is told in the posting for October 9, 2009.

This time I was sure that my picture-taking days were over, at least for a while; it turned on but the screen didn't even work at all.  I started thinking of ways to explain to my wife  a) how it happened in the first place, and  b) how much it was going to cost to replace.

In spite of how bad it looked, we opened the camera, took the batteries out, opened the little door for the chip, and set it in the sun to dry while we ate lunch. After lunch it still didn't work, so we packed it with the rest of our gear and headed downriver to complete the trip.

As soon as we packed the car for the drive back to Houston I opened the camera again and placed it on the dashboard in case it wasn't completely dry inside. After we got home I told the whole story to my wife.

My father-in-law happened to be there, so he tinkered with it a little and decided to install some fresh batteries. And to everyone's amazement it worked! I did some test shots and it worked just like new! I only found out much later that there was something wrong - it would no longer focus in video mode - but what a small price to pay.

So those two incidences convinced me that my next camera would be a Fuji product, and for Father's Day a year or so later my family bought the S7000, which worked beautifully.  Later on, upon graduating to bigger equipment, I bought the Nikon, disappointed that Fuji did not produce a higher-level DSLR.