We recently took a family vacation to Aruba. It was warm, wonderfully relaxing, and, of course, was a great setting for some awesome photography. I didn't want to lug around my DSLR equipment with me, so I opted to carry two smaller cameras instead. The Fuji X10, and the Panasonic Lumix TS4.

I got the LX10 as Christmas present in 2011, and the camera has not disappointed. I was looking for a high-end point-and-shoot which still afforded me the ability to manually control focus, aperture, and exposure, among other things. I have to admit that when I was shopping around, I was pretty dead set on either the Lumix LX-5 or the Canon G12. I have a Panasonic point-and-shoot, which I love, because of the fabulous optical 12x zoom Leica lens. Unfortunately, the camera is pretty automatic, and didn't allow me to change many settings beyond ISO, flash, and exposure. The Canon G12 was also an attractive option, because, as my DSLR is a Canon, I pretty much know what to expect. I was all ready to get either the LX-5 or the G12 when I walked into Henry's. Then the sales guy asked me if I'd be willing to look at another alternative - the X10. Well, it was love at first sight. First of all, the body is so awesomely vintage! Plus the zoom is "manual", meaning that you have to twist the lens to zoom in and out, like you do on a DSLR. But, the real selling point for me was the fact that this camera takes AMAZING low-light photos. It even beats the pants out of my fancy Canon DSLR. Seriously.

The TS4 was a later addition to the trip. As in, I bought it 2 days before we left, and researched it briefly the night before I bought it. I bought it because I wanted a good underwater camera, knowing that we were going to spend a significant amount of water in the water, be it swimming, hanging at the beach, or snorkeling. Again, this camera did not disappoint. Being a Panasonic, it has the awesome Leica lens. It only has 4.6x optical zoom, but then again, it's about the same as on the X10, so no biggie. The underwater pics were awesome, and so were the out-of-the-water pics.

But enough camera talk. Let's look at some pics! The first pic is one of the first underwater pics that I took with the TS4. It blew me away right away. I couldn't believe how crisp the underwater photos were!

We did a variety of things while in Aruba, most of which involved time spent on a boat, in the water, or both. The photo below was taken while we waited to board a glass-bottom boat. Looks like a Corona ad, doesn't it? This one was taken with the X10.

The next photo was the true test of our underwater camera. I have to admit that taking pictures underwater while snorkeling is rather tricky. First of all, you're moving, even when you yourself aren't swimming. Secondly, the fish are moving. Lastly, it's really freaking hard to see the LCD screen when you've got a snorkeling mask on. I had a lot of dud shots on the TS4 before I got the hang of it, and even still, there were a lot of dud shots after that. This is one of the cool ones that I really like.

And of course, no trip to the Caribbean is complete without awesome sunset pictures. There's no such thing as too many sunsets. Really. I could just keep going. We went on a sunset cruise one evening, which of course fed into my sunset photo obsession. And was the perfect scenario for using my beloved X10. It did NOT disappoint. This shot is one of my favorites: capturing a catamaran, a wind surfer (Aruba is VERY windy, so there are lots of wind surfers), and the setting sun. Is this a postcard pic, or what? :)

This next sunset photo was taken with the TS4. There's a funny horizontal line coming from the middle of the sun. I'm pretty sure that it's because the lens wasn't quite clean after the camera spent much of the day underwater in the pool, but I have to say that it makes for an interesting effect. This pic is definitely one of my favorites because I happened to catch the girl was she was doing a cartwheel on the sand, to the backdrop of the setting sun.

And finally, I must also add that we visited the Butterfly Farm while on the island. The Butterfly Farm is definitely not for the faint of heart. You're pretty much in an enclosed area with netting, surrounded by TONS of butterflies. If you're remotely scared of butterflies, you probably wouldn't like this place. I loved it. And I loved all of the different types of butterflies. There were so many, and the weren't shy at all. Case in point, the photo below was taken of a butterfly that latched itself onto my husband's foot. It stayed there for quite a while before it decided that it had had enough.

Sadly, I did not think of bringing the X10 along for this adventure, so I was left with the TS4 instead. Still, thanks to Leica awesomeness, the pics turned out not too shabby. For more of the Aruba album, check out the link here.