Jane

Several months ago, my best buddy from nursing school told me she had plans for a 3 week trip to Africa in September and she asked me for camera recommendations.  I gave her several and after reading all the reviews and evaluating her needs, she settled on the Sony RX10M4.  I spent an afternoon with her shortly afterwards helping her get it set up and going over the menus.  We spent a weekend on the Eastern Shore in July where she read the manual and asked me questions as we sat on the beach.  Today we went out for some shooting lessons.  The camera has several automatic settings, but she is very intent on learning to shoot on manual.  I told her that she absolutely doesn't want to be agonizing over her settings while trying to shoot wildlife on her trip, so she will need to practice every day to get comfortable with shooting on manual.  She isn't a total newbie but hasn't worked with a camera in many years, although she did teach a course on Photoshop at a local college so she is familiar with processing. 

It was already very very hot when we met at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.  We did a little review of the exposure triangle and shooting with a telephoto lens and off we went.  There were oodles of butterflies and dragonflies, while not exactly the Serengeti, she managed to get some good shots.  I thought a shot of her would be good for my blip today.  We only lasted a little over an hour and the heat won, so we retreated to her car for some air conditioning, cold drinks and a review of her pictures.  

Three weeks in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa... I am very a little jealous. 

By the way if you haven't been watching the series "Serengeti" on the Discovery Channel, I highly recommend it.