Bustopher, I am so glad to see your Belle sans Flatterie - mine is so young but (I'm repeating myself) hope to see blooms this coming spring. Just beautiful. Do you have many gallicas? I have a large handful of them and the smattering of blooms I got last year makes me anxious to see what they do this year. I love the moon picture! Thanks for posting the pictures, everyone. The Blanche Neige looks like pearls.

Hi Walnut, A couple of years ago, after extensive research, I bought a Canon Powershot SX10 which comes with a viewfinder, swivel screen and 20x Wide angle optical zoom. I paid about 500.00 and its definitely more camera than I needed but it came highly recommended by the professionals and included the criteria I was looking for, a viewfinder and as much zoom as possible. The camera is great but the viewfinder is basically useless. That's because now due to the digital technology, the viewfinder is just a mini reflection of the LCD screen and since itâÂÂs so small, there is no detail in the view. In fact its so small, it basically looks like youâÂÂre looking through a screened window. Sadly, they're no longer like the older cameras where the viewfinder actually helped you to see the shot better, the extended zoom on cameras has sort of taken over that feature. I use my camera almost daily and haven't used the view finder once. Yes, using the screen on the back does take a little getting used to but once you adapt to it you won't miss the view finder at all; I didn't anyways. What I do use a lot is the zoom. And just as with phones, the bigger the screen is on the back, the better. I also seldom use the swivel to get a shot, though it's handy for protecting the screen. Unless you want an extra amount of zoom which is a feature that will increase your price, then one of the less expensive point and shoot cameras will serve you equally as well and have a lot of photo options. They are compact enough to fit easily in your bag or purse and will take drop dead gorgeous pictures. Both my sister and brother in law just got small pocket size Canons and ended up choosing the same model (without knowing it). She took these shots a couple of weeks ago with hers and texted them to me. If youâÂÂre interested I can find out which one they bought. I also posted the link to the camera I bought, just in case you or anyone else is interested in reading about it. Here is a link that might be useful: My camera

That is so cute. Grandma's little helper?

Just from my own real life experience as the mother two toddlers, I can tell you I own over $3000 worth of DSLR body and lenses. My best shots of my kids actually come from my Nikon Coolpix S8100 (under $200). I'll give you the lag time is more than my fancy DLSR. And yes, when I have time to pull the DLSR out I can get a much better photograph, but I can stick my Coolpix in any bag I am taking anywhere and it is always with me. So I get all the candids. My DLSR is bulky (and my kids come with enough baggage already. I love my DSLR, don't get me wrong, I have it for many other reasons, but if she is looking for great shots of her child, a fairly easy point and shoot is way more practical. Kalindi