My wife, Debee, and I headed for the quaint town of Brandon, Vt., about 15 miles east of Lake Champlain and 15 miles south of Middlebury. Scenic Route 7 passes through Brandon, and the Long Trail, the state's end-to-end hiking trail, is nearby at the Brandon Gap.
We stopped at the Falls of Lana off Route 53 near Lake Dunmore. This place is spectacular, with cascading falls, pools of churning water, and tree-lined cliffs. One look at the 100-foot waterfall brought out the cellphone. I worried about it slipping from my grip. The BlackBerry is small, only 3 1/2 inches tall and 2 inches wide. It doesn't have a strap and it can be slippery.
I liked the way the camera allowed me to look at a "live"
image on the 1 1/2-inch-square screen and compose the shot without looking through a viewfinder. Pretty soon I got used to pressing the shutter with my thumb, since the trackball in the middle of the keypad serves as the shutter release. I could hold the camera and take a photo easily with either hand and even hold it at arm's length over my head to get an aerial view.
Because I was so close to the edge of a cliff, I held onto a tree and framed the waterfall and cliffs by holding the phone about 3 feet in front of me. I positioned it upside-down, so that it touched the ground for a low-angle shot. I even put it close to the water using this method.
The BlackBerry's memory stores 100 photos taken at the superfine setting. An optional memory card holds even more.
The first night we ate at the Watershed Tavern in Brandon, where a waterfall formed the backdrop for our window view. I took a photo of the waterfall at dusk and another when it was dark, with very different results. The camera has an automatic shutter speed, and the lower the light the slower the image appears on the screen. You can see a slow-motion effect on the screen when you move the camera around. In daylight or under bright lights, this lag is hardly noticeable.
