fiberhart

R. I. P.

Yes, there was tragedy (of a sort) yesterday. I'll explain----

We left for Scofield early in the afternoon. I managed to get shots of the windmills as we headed east up Highway 6.




An hour later, we were at the lake. We went into town to check out the small 'craft fair"- not a lot going on there, at least not for me. One of the longstanding traditions on the Fourth at Scofield is the rubber ducky race, with the winner collecting $1000. This year, 2400 (that's right, twenty-four hundred!!) rubber duckies hit the river for the race. So we decided to walk up to the bridge to see the finish.

Shannon and I found a spot to sit, right above the river but down from the finish line. Here's Shannon on my left, you can see the finish gate in the distance. (I have no idea what prompted the face on the boy in the red shirt about Shannon's head!)



We enjoyed the sun, the lovely green mountains, and just the festivities. Then just a few minutes after I took this picture- my camera fell out of its bag, and tumbled down a steep embankment into the river. It landed close to the edge, and Shannon did manage to fish it out of the water. But it took her a couple of minutes to get down the embankment, so my camera was in the water long enough that I knew it probably wouldn't survive.

We took out the batteries and the card, and dried it out. We left it sitting where there was a breeze- after all this is DRY Utah. But, several hours later, when I tried turning it on, it froze and gave up the ghost.

So, I have no pictures of the feast we enjoyed with our friends- including the killer cake Shannon made. I have no pictures of us playing Redneck Horseshoes. I have no pictures of the fireworks, or the lightning show that accompanied it behind the mountains. By the end of the night, I was having camera withdrawals.

I did manage to download the pictures I'd taken earlier in the day using a card reader I have- so at least those weren't lost. And I was up early this morning, checking out camera reviews online, and debating how much I could afford to spend. In the end, I decided on a used Pentax DSLR kit. It got great reviews, from both the pros and owners. And the price was right- less than any other DSLR I've seen, including the discontinued Nikon D50 or the Nikon D40. I should have it in a week or so.

If you are looking for camera equipment, my brother (the amateur photographer) told me about B & H Photo and KEH Camera- both places recommended by professional photographers and where you can buy used equipment with confidence. I got mine from B & H. When you're looking at used, you never know what they will have in stock!

It also means I have no photos of my washed and ironed dye runs. Next, I think I am going to do a comparison of the mercerized PFD I just got, and the Kaufman muslin I've been using.

I'm not working tomorrow- one more day to play! Maybe moe work on the dryer sheets--