You can take pictures in six different resolutions (2,048×1,536, 1,600×1,200, 1,280×960, 640×480, and 320×240 pixels), five white balance presets, and five color effects. It also has three focusing modes: autofocus, macro mode, or manual mode, the last of which lets you pick one of seven points on the screen to focus in on. You can toggle the flash on or off, adjust a self timer if you want, or select one of three shutter sounds (there’s also a silent option).

The camera also has a few special shot modes: Smile shot, which automatically takes a picture when a person smiles; Panorama, which stitches together five photos shot from left to right; Intelligent shot, which automatically adjusts the white balance and color saturation based on the surrounding environment; and Facial Makeover mode, which removes all blemishes and unsightly marks from a person’s face. There’s also a name card reader mode that is specially tuned to take pictures of business cards and then extracts the contact information and saves it in your phone. I don’t really get a lot of business cards, but I think I’m going to start asking people for them all the time now.

I’ve been using my camera phone more than my beloved Canon Digital Rebel XTi (although I plan on carrying it around a lot this weekend when I’m in downtown Boston). I upgraded the phone about a week ago and have since taken a lot of random photos playing with the various features. It’s been a bit of a learning process but I’m having fun and some of the result photos have been a bit surprising and unexpected. Also, none of these photos have been altered in any way, shape or form. They are coming to you straight from my cell phone to the internet.

Self Portrait: Cloves, Car rides and friends

Buddha the Cat: Living on the Edge

You can practically feel the WHOOSH as they skate around the rink.

Panorama of Venice Beach with San Gabriel fire smoke in the background.

Fear. Can you smell it?

Sleep with your eyes open.

There's nothing quite like getting up close and personal with creepy crawlies.

Happy dogs mean happy people.

Lynch Park, Beverly, MA

Panorama of the rocky Beverly coast: Lynch Park, Beverly, MA

Peace and serenity where the sea meets the green and the trees. Lynch Park, Beverly, MA

Danvers State Insane Asylum was built in 1878 on top of Hawthorne Hill. The property, having been abandoned for almost 30 years and right after the psychological indie thriller Session 9 was filmed there, the whole estate was recently converted into an apartment complex, leaving the main Kirkbride building intact. In the initial stages of refurbishing the inside of the building, there was a fire that destroyed much of the new construction. The damage has since been fixed and the apartments are now inhabited. Was the fire a coincidence? I'll let you be the judge of that.

to read more on Danvers State Insane Asylum

Danvers State in the afternoon sun. Danvers, MA

The dog days of Summer.

It's always good to be prepared.

All photography, unless otherwise noted, is original photography done by me.  I will also try to share tips and tricks when it comes to social media, photoshop, digital photography, cooking, blogging and other things I know well.  Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.

I plan on doing a Photograph of the Week where I showcase one of my photographs and explain where it was taken, under what settings and what I did to digitally enhance it (if anything).

In addition to the many topics listed above, I will also be writing about my cats a lot. I have four cats and a catdog* and they provide many hours of entertainment.

(*catdog is a dog that has been raised by four cats and has species identity disorder. he does not know or believe himself to be a dog but displays classic behaviors of and is drawn to cats)

I hope you will enjoy my blog, subscribe to it, follow me on twitter and use it as inspiration to start your own! Knowledge & creativity are freedom!