Courthouse Christmas

It’s that time of year- Prescott’s Courthouse Square is lit up for Christmas. We walked around last night, so I could take photos with my new walk-around camera- a slick little Fujifilm X100 VI! It was cold and dark, and my fumbling frozen fingers struggled a bit with settings, but I did get a few photos I was happy with. This camera is soooo lightweight, which really helps my neck and shoulders- and it could fit in a purse or small camera bag. No, I am not abandoning my Nikons, but this camera is a little powerhouse! I just need to learn the settings better and develop some muscle memory. By the way, Fujifilm is famous for it’s straight out of camera film simulations- however as a Nikon shooter, I am not giving up RAW or spending time editing in Lightroom and Photoshop. Fortunately, I can have the best of both worlds as the film simulations come in as camera profiles in Lightroom, so you can use them if you wish.

Valley of Lights

We had heard mentions of the Valley of Lights display in our neighboring Prescott Valley and somehow had the (wrong) idea that it was a neighborhood of decorated houses. We went last week and discovered a long line of cars snaking along a road through magical archways of lights with over a hundred I’m sure displays of lights sponsored by various area businesses. It was a wonderful treat and so well done. There was everything from an animated fishing Santa to wild west scenes to fairytales to Noah’s Ark to patriotic tributes. Very impressive!