Tilted?

I used to use a Canon S3 IS. It's a nice camera. I think I took over 10,000 pictures with it. One of the features that I liked about it was that you could have a grid of lines on the display (view finder or LCD). I frequently used that grid to be sure I had the camera level.

I got a good parking spot for this hike.

My XSi has a grid, also, but since it's an SLR, the grid is not displayed in the viewfinder. I never use the LCD when taking pictures (for several reasons). As a consequence, I think a lot of my pictures might be tilted.

Some nameless mountain.

It's hard to tell for sure, though. I thinking about holding the camera level, but then I look at it when I get home and it looks tilted, but maybe it's because I'm not pointed directly at a lake shoreline or a mountain range, or maybe the landscape is tilted.

It's pretty out here, and the nighthawks and coyotes were singing for me.

Sometimes I try to straighten them and they look worse. Sometimes the saguaros in them make it obvious that the picture was tilted. Sometimes the picture looks better with tilted saguaros.

One of those tricky pictures.

Anyway, if you've looked at some of my pictures and wondered why I can't hold the camera straight, you're not alone. I wonder about that all the time myself.

This desert is such a pretty place.

It was only slightly breezy on this hike, which turned out to be a not-so-good thing. We seem to have a bumper crop of gnats this year. I probably killed a couple of dozen. I wait until I feel several on my arm, then I sweep my hand up my arm from wrist to elbow. It's more effective and less painful than swatting, but their bloody little bodies get rolled up in my arm hair. That's one of those little things that makes me wonder if the fact that I usually hike alone is actually other people's choice and not mine.

Saguaro skeleton.

The first time I saw a cholla, I was impressed with how hostile it looked. I still like the way they seem to say, "Get as close as you want, but touch me and you'll regret it." It's not a threat. Just a quiet promise.

Now that's a peaceful scene. Imagine the coyotes howling in the distance.

Click below to see all of the pictures.

BC_2010_05_06