Yet because it had been so long and I just couldn’t find the motive to push through the “lazy” method of shooting, it’s now been 3 years since I bought the camera and until this week, hadn’t once taken it into manual mode, let alone made use of the tripod.

Then just this weekend I felt maybe I want to go beyond my comfort zone with this thing and take advantage of the fact that though I love fireworks, last year’s attempt at shooting them using preset factory modes had failed miserable, which means I’ll actually take the time to read the user’s manual and learn how to slow down the shutter, work the f stops, do what I need to so I can come up with that one award winning shot.

This desire was locked when Christa Watson, a friend, industry colleague, and also an avid photographer, posted a challenge on her blog

What if we took this next week to really stop, think, and create a photo, instead of just snapping away? What if you only had ONE chance to take that picture? ONE shot to set up your white balance, color, lighting, and composition. The challenge is to take only one picture for the day. No over processing, no sharpening, just straight out of the camera goodness!

Well, there’s no way I’d go THAT far, because I don’t have a full on DSLR (although a goal this year is to purchase a Digital Rebel … ) yet this was enough to solidify my desire to really put my all into the process for that fireworks shot.

To that end, I sat down tonight and busted out the manual (the digital version of course!) and after what must have been like a half hour of confusing instructions spread out here and there, I finally figured out how to set the ISO (100 for this experiment), and the exposure time (5 seconds for this test) which I’ll need from what I’ve read about getting great fireworks shots.

I then took my camera out front of my apartment and figured this would be a great test – even though I don’t live near a highway, the road here is constant with traffic about 21 hours a day…

Well here’s the results (I realized during shooting that I hadn’t set the f-stop and ended up with the camera automatically going from f 2.7 to about 3.5 depending on the shot – so next I’ll have to figure that out – I’ve read that anywhere from f4 – f8 should be right for fireworks…)

And since lavender is my favorite color, and the aroma of lavender being as soothing and relaxing as it is, being able to walk along row upon row of it growing, then hand-picking bunches of it to bring home, made for a perfect afternoon, even as the sweat came pouring down my forehead nearly the whole time there, even in the shade…

I spent about an hour and a half walking around, looking at the cars, and took a few photos, though by no means are photos of all the classic cars that were at the show represented here.  My favorite cars at shows like this are the bad-ass mustang convertibles from the early sixties, though really fine Camaros from the same era come in a very close second.

I also highly respect anyone who can take what would otherwise be considered nearly scrap metal and turn it into a finely polished smooth as silk restoration project car.  And of course, what would a classic car show be without a few hot rods?

Yet for all the great benefits of working from home, there are times when I just need to be connected in a more tangible way.  That’s one of the reasons I so appreciate that my single biggest client is a company in Sausalito called WebSight Design.  I manage the SEO team in a part-time outside consultant basis, and provide SEO consulting to their development and design teams as well.  As a  result, I get to oversee the SEO initiatives for a pelthora of clients all through one path.  And though I do some of this work from home, I do drive down to Sausalito a couple times a week.

Not because I have to – given all the remote productivity tools we use.  Instead, I have the ability to be face to face with some of the best people in the web solutions business.  And then there’s the fact that I have my own office with such a killer view…