I need three hands!

I took Gracie for a walk in the bush today and brought the new Pentax with me. I learned something. I need three hands.

With my old P&S, I used to hold the dog's leash in one hand and snap away with the other! Not so easy with a dSLR. I didn't actually have the dog ON the leash, but my pockets aren't big enough to put the leash IN, so I had to hold it in my hand. It's one of those retractable ones, so it's not like I could have just wrapped it around my neck to keep it out of the way.

So there I was, struggling with my footing, [there's not enough snow to walk on top of it and too much to be able to see the terrain underneath, so I was doing a lot of slipping, sliding and tripping!], trying to operate the camera controls and zoom ring AND focus AND set WB AND set my SS and fstop with one hand and freezing my fingers at the same time! Good thing I didn't have a pooper-scooper-bag with me! [I don't usually bring one in the bush. Bears poop in the woods don't they?]

Not to mention that I had to wear my clip on sunglasses because it was too bright outside. That posed a problem too because the clip-ons were too dark and without them was too bright! So I had to take them off when composing and put them back on when I was walking!

THEN, to make matters even worse, by batteries kept draining! I managed to take a few nice shots, but eventually the batteries died completely. I knew that might happen so I brought new ones with me, but my fingers were so cold, I didn't want to stop to change the batteries! I missed a great shot because of it. Picture this...a cluster of dried, hydrangea flowers silhouetted against backlit 4pm sunshine! Darn!

Note to self:
1. don't bring camera when walking alone with the dog
2. bring hubby on walks so he can hold the leash
3. get warmer gloves
4. wear a cap to stop the glaring sun from my eyes
5. have newly charged batteries in the camera
6. find third hand