A picture is worth...

One of my many hobbies is photography.  I've been taking pictures for years; my first camera was a Kodak where you had to manually advance the film after taking a picture.  I believe the roll of film was 12 pictures.

My current camera is a Canon PowerShot SX20IS - the IS stands for image stabilizer.  I got it three years ago as a Christmas gift from my parents and grandmother, and I take it everywhere!  It is a fantastic camera - among the many options it has are settings for black & white pictures, stitch assist for taking panoramic pictures, and a 80x digital zoom.

Yes, I took that picture.  There are two night settings on the camera - one is "night snapshot" for taking portraits at night, and the other is "night scene" for taking pictures with a tripod.  When taking pictures of the moon I usually take a few on each setting and then pick the sharpest one.

Sometimes I'll take a picture of the moon with branches in the foreground for a framed effect.

The night after the lunar eclipse; Dec. 10, 2011

And now, some random photos:

One of the Harris hawks of Ray Pena, royal falconer, Bristol Renaissance Fair

Blowing fire; Barely Balanced acrobat act, Bristol Renaissance Fair

Fireworks over Otter Lake, July 4, 2011

Swans on the Jack Lake nature trail

Two candelabras reflected in the glass of my curio cabinet

And this last one needs a tiny bit of explanation.  My Uncle Jerry decided to plank on my mother's wheelbarrow, which unfortunately at the time had a shovel in it.  The shovel handle is between his legs...