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 There were a few people this past few days who got a little upset because I didn't answer their emails or blog comments immediately. One person even got quite upset with me. But as you can see from the image above I had better things to do. My family and I went down to VA Beach for an extended (4 1/2 day) weekend. And while I did bring my camera I did not bring my laptop. Somethings in life are more important...
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 Is it just me or does this frog have the biggest fly eating grin on his/her face?
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 No beetles were harmed in the making of this image. Well, maybe it was a little traumatized...
I captured this beetle outside, brought him in, let him run around in circles for a little while on the rim of a class while I shot him in my makeshit home photo studio. Then yes, I released him back into the wild.
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 In honor of last night's wonderful thunderstorm and rains.
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 I thought that this image was oddly appropriate given my recent posts regarding popsicle signs. This was shot at a Wawa one day many moons ago while filling up my car on thte way to work. Something about the texture of the water, color, and shapes just caught my eye.
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This is a Praying Mantis found in my backyard two years ago while cutting the grass. With the previous photographs I posted I did not include any information regarding what or how. I just figured I would post some of my photographs without commentry. From now on I will probably add at least a little information to the images in case anyone is curious.
This image was shot with my Canon Digital Rebel and Sigma 105MM Macro lens while lying flat on the ground to try and get down to the Mantis's eye level. These guys have both quizzicle and scary faces all at the same time.
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One commenter on a post today suggested that they would rather see some of my photographs then read about politics. Ok, here you go. This first image is a composite shot made up of one night shot of the Lincoln Memorial and one night shot of a storm that blew through Prince William County. |
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If you aren't into underwater photography then you may never have heard of an American company called Ikelite based in Indianapolis, Indiana. That is a shame because they are a shining example of a company that has made a place for itself by making good products and backing them up with excellent customer service.
Take for example my experience with them today. This week I purchased their DS50 Substrobe (a flash for use underwater). When I got the flash I read through the manual to figure out if I could use the two sets of AA Nickel-Metal Hydride (NI-MH) rechargeable batteries that I had instead of having to buy a bunch of disposable Alkaline batteries. The manual said that it would take NI-CAD batteries but nothing about NI-MH so I went ahead and e-mailed Ikelite. In less than 30 minutes I got a personal response. Fortunately that personal response said that the strobe would take my NI-MH batteries.
Several years ago I owned a camera kit manufactured by Ikelite. During a dive off of Key Largo, Florida the handle of the housing the camera was encased in separated from the housing and the housing and camera vanished into the ocean. Ikelite replaced the camera and housing no questions asked.
To top it all off the people of Ikelite have really embraced the internet and go out of their way to do things like post helpful (non-sales orientated) responses to technical questions that underwater photographers have on forums like the ones found at Wetpixel.
More companies should aspire to be like Ikelite.
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In case your missed it Nikon made a huge announcement on January 11th:
In essence Nikon is ceasing production of all 35MM film cameras with the exception of the top of the line F6 and the fully manual FM10 in order to concentrate on the digital camera market. The news isn't really all that surprising, the writing has been on the wall the last few years, but it has sent shockwaves through the photography world anyway.
Personally I am conflicted about the downfall of film. I first got serious about photography when I was 12 and my parents bought me a Chinon CP7m for my birthday (I still have that camera by the way). It is hard to describe just how cool it was to stand in a darkroom for the first time and watch an image materialize on paper while agitating a tray full of developer. Working in a darkroom is satisfying in so many ways, its one part science and one part magic. I haven't been in a darkroom for a few years but I still dream of having a home darkroom one day.
On the flip side, I first started toying with digital imaging in 1993. Back then I had access to Apple Quadra 650's with 8 - 16 MB of RAM and Photoshop 2.5 in the computer lab at James Madison University. I didn't have a digital camera of course, or even a film scanner, so I was making prints in the darkroom and scanning the prints for manipulation. Today I shoot all digital with my Digital Rebel. I haven't shot a single roll of file in two years (although I have a stock of Kodak HIE in the fridge).
I love digital photography and can't imagine going back to shooting just film. I do however lament what I see as the coming death of film though. There is something about silver nitrate and the smell of chemicals in a darkroom, the slaving away to create just the perfect print of a negative that you don't get through Photoshop. A good print takes on some of the soul of the photographer that made it, breathed life into the image so to speak.
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