Scattered Thoughts . . .

I've had my best camera for approximately four years... wow, has it been four years already? The first summer that I used this camera, my sunblock ruined my LCD screen on the back of the camera. My nose is always in contact with the LCD screen whenever I use my viewfinder so it was impossible to avoid getting sunblock on my camera.  Over time, this completely ruined my LCD screen on this particular camera and, after years of sunblock getting on the LCD screen, it has been getting difficult to see detail on my LCD screen. I was at a point where I needed to address this issue. I've been toying with the idea of sending this camera body in for repair but I haven't wanted to wait the usual two to six weeks for the camera to be back in my hands. I have another camera body with a slightly smaller sensor but this camera body is my overall favorite because of its large sensor. I just couldn't send it in for repair while it was still in working condition. I recently found

For a change, the weather in my neck of the woods cooperated with an astronomical event! That alone is a rarity. Even more surprising is that my health cooperated as well! The chances of all of this coming together were slim. I had set up a couple of my cameras earlier in the day. I charged and tested batteries. I chose two lenses... one for each camera. I chose the appropriate tripod head and mounted it on my tripod. Then, I waited. Sheila's parents stopped by for a few drinks before dinner which was nice and occupied my time as we waited for nightfall. We ate dinner, cleaned up and then I noticed the full moon was brightly lighting up the sky outside our living room window. At this point, I was running low on energy so, rather than hauling all this gear outdoors to a good viewing spot, I just set up the tripod at the living room window and shot out the open window.  The problem with shooting from this particular window is that I knew that the moon would eventually skirt b

Move over Canon... move over Nikon... even Howard Stern had better watch out... there is a new 'King of all media' that goes by the name of Sony. Sony televisions... stunning (I should know, there is one in our living room). Sony video cameras... remarkably amazing as claimed by wedding videographers and cinematographers around the globe. Sony cameras... perhaps the most finely crafted piece of artistic machinery I have ever had the pleasure to hold and use... simply amazing.  Just look at this camera. It is rock solid yet operates like a fine precision watch. For me, this camera series is the leader of the pack of all cameras and is so finely crafted that it is like artistic engineering machinery. Even the well known Hasselblad has begun using Sony cameras rebadged as Hasselblad cameras! That is saying something! Move over Canon and Nikon... there is a new kid on the block who is making you look old, worn, tired, crotchety and unwilling to evolve further... and one of

During my down time while struggling with poor health... and there has been a lot of this particular time in recent months... I've been trying to keep busy by improving my photography through continued education.  Photography is something I have always enjoyed since I was a child. I started photography by taking courses in school and was blessed with a grandfather who provided photography and darkroom gear for me. Way back then, much of photography time was spent in a darkroom. Most people don't realize it but even digital photography requires a lot of time in a 'digital' darkroom and this digital darkroom requires extensive and never-ending education and practice.  The learning curve for any darkroom, digital or otherwise, is steep. The terms are the same... the effects are the same... even the results are very similar... but the specific tools are different today. Today the darkroom tools are digital and manipulated with any digital input device such as a mouse,

I decided to write this little tip guide as a way for me to fully understand everything I've learned about bird photography thus far.  Hopefully this little self-imposed homework assignment will help me with my own bird photography as well as help others.  As I thought about all of these tips and how each of these tips manages to play upon and affect other aspects of bird photography while, at the same time, are transferable to wildlife photography in general, I knew that putting all this knowledge in writing would help to sort and organize everything in my head.  Hopefully, others whom have been struggling to capture some nice bird photos (like I had been for years) may find at least some of this information useful enough to help improve their bird and wildlife photography. First and foremost, let me point out that I am not a professional wildlife photographer.  Photography is definitely a hobby for me.  Photography is also a form of art therapy for me as a struggle with ser

A Panasonic G3 in the micro four thirds format... As most of you know, one of my many hobbies is photography. As most of you probably do not know, there is no one camera that can do everything. Each camera has its strengths and each camera has its weaknesses. As a result, I have quite a little collection of gear, each piece sporting its own advantage. I have a very limited budget so I often pick up used gear at very tempting prices rather than buy new at unattainable prices.  A number of months ago I decided to drop my Olympus gear and upgrade significantly by getting some full-frame Sony gear.  "Full-frame" refers to the size of the sensor and this full-frame size is huge compared to most cameras. The sensor on this Sony camera is the same size as a single 35mm negative frame... hence the name "full-frame". By comparison, compact cameras have sensors the size of a pencil eraser... and higher quality cameras have sensors somewhere in between the two in