An ergonomic workaround for the Canon S90

The Canon S90 is a wonderful compact camera.  I take it everywhere and use it when a dSLR is inconvenient or intimidating.  In particular, for images that have strangers in it (and for what is called "street photography") I find the S90 to be unintimidating to others and less likely to draw attention to me. (tip: for real stealth, turn off all sounds).

But the S90 has the same problem that many compact cameras have.  It is sometimes hard to hold.  The S90 is particularly problematic because there are not ribbed or "nubbied" rubber areas to place your fingers.  Even with the aftermarket grip I glued onto the hand-side of the body, I did drop the camera once.  It is very slippery.

Yes, I can use the included strap, but I find straps annoying.  I have pulled pocket cams out of my pocket before, with the strap entangled with my keys. Or, if the strap is hanging out of your pocket it can catch on door knobs and the like, pulling the camera out of your pocket.  It isn't a lot of work, but I really dislike wrapping the stock strap around the camera before slipping it into a pocket. With the contraption shown here, I have solved all these problems.

It is made with a length of old fishing fly-line and a button.  I just slip the button between my fingers and I can operate the camera and adjust buttons and operate the spin dial with my thumb without fear of dropping.  A video would be cool, but the last picture is a result of spinning the camera 180 degrees along its axis with the thumb and fingers of my right hand... importantly, without fear of dropping it!

Everyone likes blue sky and puffy clouds

I loved the view of the clouds from this bridge, so I eagerly parked the car and walked back to the middle of the bridge.  This is a good example of why I (almost) always keep a camera with me, and is why even the most serious photographer should (IMO) own a decent pocket camera. The camera I used for these images is the 7 ounce Canon S90.

These shots were taken in the P-mode with about 1-stop of negative EV compensation.   This reduced the exposure so that the blue sky would maintain its deep color.  All were shot in RAW and converted to jpegs in Lightroom. 

It's all about the light

We all know how important the light is when it comes to getting an image with impact.  I was going through a few images from my Colorado trip this past fall.  These two were taken in the morning (about 7:30am) in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I would not have remembered that they are both of the same Elk bull, until I looked at the exif information and discovered that the images were taken about 1 minute apart.  The sun had not yet lifted itself over the mountains to the east when I took the first image, as you can barely see a shadow.  But by the next minute the bull was bounding over a nearby hill to chase away an intruding bugling bull on the other side, and as he reached the top his body picked up the early morning sun.  Your mileage may vary (especially since the first image seems slightly sharper) but to my thinking the second image has far more impact.

The light is better here (but admittedly the composition is too.)