Since I need it to complete a presentation, Dad decided to go ahead and let me get one of my graduation gifts: a new camera.

I had to go with point-and-shoot because a DSLR wasn't in the cards, but I got the best point-and-shoot camera I could get on the amount Dad's willing to spend: a Canon Powershot SX520 HS. It's one of the best point-and-shoot models out there, according to the reviews I read, and I got mine at a deep discount too.

My favorite feature of this camera by far is the zoom! The optical zoom goes to 42x and the digital zoom goes to 168x. And with the quick on and off function that Canon is known for, this is probably the best camera in its class for photographing wildlife.

The first thing I'm going to have to do with it is a low-light test once the battery pack is fully charged. After that, I need to take photos of that manuscript I'm working with for the presentation that's due on Wednesday in class. Chances are I'll be sharing those photos on Facebook, Twitter, and possibly Weasyl.

After that? Well, it might be time to spend the day hitting the Parks in Portland! I can't tell you how many times I've seen interesting animals that were either too far away or in too poor lighting to show up on camera but I'm hoping a decent camera like this one will finally allow me to really show you the wonders of the Northwestern forests. Also, I need to get out into nature more anyway.