Admittedly, my first impulse was to make a beeline for downtown San Francisco. Here, you see, was where the Bay Area’s heart and soul lay. I roamed the area around Union Square, photographing the city’s old buildings with the camera set to “P” mode. Later on I switched to “sepia” mode and zeroed in on the antique cable cars, taking frame after nostalgic frame of these vehicles as they ambled down ‘Frisco’s almost-vertical roads. At the Golden Gate Park, on the other hand, I struggled to find a new angle on that well-photographed landmark – the Golden Gate Bridge – before finally settling for a simple foreground-background shot using the DSC-T5’s “landscape” mode.

There was more to behold outside the city itself. The next day I rented a car and headed down to the nearby Monterey Peninsula for some quick-and-easy nature shots. To test the camera’s black and white capabilities, I looked to the area’s coastal road for its stunning sea views. Not surprisingly, the DSC-T5 cheerfully lapped up the sights, rendering the rocks, foliage and endlessly smashing waves in smooth, sensuous B/W tones.

Next, I drove on to nearby San Jose for a helping of colorful California sights. These I found along the city’s Santana Row shopping district, where quirky modern art pieces shared the streets with structures of older dates. Pumping up the DSC-T5’s saturation to +1, I photographed multi-hued walls festooned with aging window grills, before heading downtown to shoot the Basilica of St. Joseph, the state’s first parish church. Because of the dim lighting inside the cathedral’s interiors, I opted to lean the camera against the walls while shooting without flash at ISO 64.

That being done it was time to head back to San Francisco. I spent the rest of my trip exploring this storied city’s streets, taking images of everyday life in one of America’s favorite cities. Needless to say, the DSC-T5 and I became the best of friends, its many features and intuitive controls ensuring that I never missed out on a photo-op. Indeed, the Bay Area was a sumptuous buffet of sights and experiences - little wonder why Frank Sinatra left his heart here. Luckily for me that won’t be the case - thanks to my photos taken with the DSC-T5, I’ll always have the Bay Area with me.