Potpourri: Singing Katy Perry Songs to My Camera

Baby, you're a firework,
Come on show 'em what you're worth

I don't sing to cameras that often.  And, although I have been known to call this particular camera (my default digital camera, because it's fairly small and therefore easy to tote) by various names, I've never called it a "firework."  Most of the names that I call this camera are not-nice, NSFW names.  Because this camera promised to be the answer to my overexposure problems - but my photos still tend to be overexposed.  It also came with a "Food" setting that promised me "natural photos of food."  The camera in question is Japanese, and - given the photos that I get when I use the "Food" setting - I have reason to suspect that the words for "natural" and "blurry" in Japanese are similar, because all I get are blurry food images.

I also have reason to suspect that the fault for my ongoing camera frustrations lies with me (because I never got around to reading the manual), and/or the camera's factory settings, and/or the fact that I haven't reset the factory settings (because I never got around to reading the manual).  However, that doesn't stop me from taking Sony's name in vain - just about every time I snap shots.

Until the other day, when I was at Concerts in the Garden, and I remembered that, on the same menu with the "Food" setting, there was a "Fireworks" setting.  And I thought, what the heck?  I already pretty much hate this camera.  What's the worst that can happen?  I get overexposed or blurry photos?

Been there, done that.

So I set the camera to "Fireworks," laid back and started shooting.

And my idiot savant camera showed me what it was worth.

These are just a couple of the images that I shot:

Impressive, huh?  I suspect that what it does (I SUSPECT, I don't KNOW, because I NEVER GOT AROUND TO READING THE MANUAL) is record several images over a couple of seconds which are then somehow superimposed.  I suspect this because:  (1) when I pushed the button, I got a "capturing image" message that stayed on the screen for a couple of seconds; and (2) the images that I captured were not what I saw in front of the lens when I clicked but represent a progression of images.

So while I will still want to drop-kick this camera on occasion (okay, particularly until I get around to reading the manual, I probably will want to drop-kick it more often than not), I have gained a healthy respect for its ability to capture summer's pyrotechnics in all of their glory.  Just as my other, even more complicated and temperamental (DSLR/point and shoot hybrid) digital is my go-to camera for taking action shots in natural light (but not much else), this one will be worth keeping as my "fireworks" camera.  And that's not nothing.

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst

I think I will name her Katy.