We’ve been enjoying some almost spring-like days in North East England this week, so today I took the opportunity to get out and about and enjoy it. I always thoroughly enjoy driving off with my digital camera, getting away from the computer and work for a few hours. I need to start doing this much more because I find a break once or twice a week can make me even more productive once I get back.

I headed off to Washington (Tyne and Wear) to Penshaw Monument which looks over Herrington Country Park. Despite it not being very far from a very busy A19, you’d think you were out in the wilds of the countryside. You can’t hear the cars zooming along the motorway, it’s just peaceful and tranquil with the sound of birds chirping and ducks quacking. If ever you wanted to get away from hustle and bustle then this is the place to do it. It had been a very sunny day but was a little bit chilly in the breeze, as you can expect for a February day.

My digital camera, as I mentioned last year, is a little poorly. The battery isn’t holding a charge for very long. Duration all depends on how it feels at the time. I can charge it up and it will tell me I have 2hrs 20min worth of shooting time, but once I take a shot it can start flashing the empty battery icon at me moments later. Today was one such day. It took around 5-10 minutes for 2hrs 20mins (yeah, right) worth of power to completely dry up once I started shooting. Because I never trust the battery icon now, I was keen to take as many shots as I could in one go.

Two very friendly swans were very happy to pose for me, in return for some breadcrumbs. Sadly I didn’t have any to give them, but they succeeded in making me feel bad for taking photos in full knowledge of this. This is one of my favourite shots from the afternoon.

Another one, that came completely by accident, is this one. If I’d waited for the water droplet shot on purpose then the chances are it would have passed before I pressed the shutter as there’s a bit of a delay on this SONY Cybershot. So, I was pleasantly surprised to have snapped just at the right time. But as I mentioned above, I was snapping as many shots as I could before the juice dried up. I also took more than one shot of the same thing, knowing how it’s very hard to see on the camera LCD how good or bad a shot has turned out. Taking around 3 or 4 of the same thing ensured that I was at least going to come away with some good shots. Today every one was near perfect. Mind you, the conditions were perfect aswell which helped. You can view my other shots on my Flickr stream.

So, I find myself in that situation again - digital camera decision time. I was reluctant to move on from my Cybershot whilst it was performing well as the shots it takes on a good day are beautiful. I have no complaints there. But, the battery is letting me down badly and I can’t just grab my camera and head out the door. It needs lots of time on charge even if it’s just for 5 minutes useage. Insane. I had my eye on a Panasonic bridge camera over the Christmas period. It was £169 at one online retailer but out of stock at the time. Nobody else had it for under £200. I waited patiently and today I noticed it was in stock - but at £60 more expensive! Now I’m looking at some other brands - Canon and Fuji. Right now my budget won’t stretch to a DSLR, but if I can get a bridge camera I’ll be happy.