My goal for the day was to hit up Ikea and brainstorm about making my apartment look like it belongs to a guy in his early to mid-30s.  Of course, I hadn't taken any photos in 4 days, so, after failing to be inspired by Swedish particle board, I ran around the city and snapped a mere few hundred pics.

Times Square, despite being one of the most photographed places in the world, provided some great camera practice, especially with regard to relaxing about sneaking pictures of complete strangers.  Only two people looked at me as if I was a potential axe murderer.

Here are a few samples; more can be found here.

Also, here are a few video clips from the same camera.  It definitely pales in comparison to my Canon HF S20, which is actually sort of a relief, because it means I'll continue to get plenty of use out of both purchases.

Low light with the new cam:  Not as trivially easy as daylight.  Still got a few shots after work that I kinda liked.

I was running around with my video camera a few weeks ago, and I suddenly felt like a raging schmuck.  It's an awesome little camera, and is well-suited for capturing cinematic moments packed with action and sound.  But on this particular day, I was framing up shots as if they were photos, and found myself wishing for a decent still camera.

Wishing didn't pan out, so yesterday I summoned the power of AMEX and brought home a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. 

I realize that everybody and their dull hipster brother has an expensive digital camera strapped around their neck, and for a long time I resisted joining the herd.  After all, is there a slice of life in New York City that has yet to be documented with a creatively cockeyed angle, and that dreamy background blur that I refuse to call "bokeh"?

I've slowly begun to realize that I was missing the point.  Sometimes, for whatever primal reasons that caused humans to develop photography in the first place, life begs to be photographed.

For a few years, I've been clumsily snapping photos with my phone, then reviewing them on my computer with a underwhelmed sigh.  Sure, with enough light and a steady grip, the iPhone takes decent pics, but there's nothing spontaneous or elegant about them.  I'm not deft enough to thumb a touchscreen shutter icon with one hand while walking briskly and trying to remain inconspicuous.

I knew I'd never be one of those guys lugging around a ginormous pro camera, but it turns out there's a new(ish) class of camera, called Micro 4/3rds, that offers the portability of a compact camera alongside many of the alluring qualities of a DSLR.  Lenses are interchangeable, and the sensor size allows for better pictures in low light.  And the GF1 performs so well in daylight that I find myself shooting crystal clear-photos one-handed, spontaneously, and sometimes without even checking my shot beforehand.  Once I really develop a sense of where to point the thing, I'll be ready to join the paparazzi.

Shooting is half the fun.  Editing RAW format photos with minimal destruction is also very addicting.

Here are a few shots I took mere moments after purchasing the camera.  This is gonna be fun.

My old pals, Bob and Bing.

What, you don't spend your Sunday afternoons trying to turn black and white photos into color?

I want to find a way to monetize this.

Tonight, walking up Broadway, I spied the first bit of signage for my neighborhood's highly-anticipated Trader Joe's.

I read an article about Trader Joe's the other day, and now I'm even more excited.  Turns out Trader Joe's staff members are very well-paid, which means I probably won't have to endure scowling, monosyllabic cashiers, which describes the majority of conveyor jockeys at local mainstays Fairway and Westside Market.