Photography

I’ve been an amateur shutterbug for years.

More camera ramblings

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I’ve spent a good portion of the evening bouncing around various camera reviews and specifications, comparing all the various suggestions made in my comments today (many thanks to all of you!). Right now, I’m leaning towards one of two possibilities…

Option one is essentially what I was looking for recommendations for, a more immediately affordable smaller “point-and-shoot” camera. Right now, I’m leaning towards the Canon PowerShot A80 (here’s the DPReview listing). Small, good combination of features, a little more expensive than I was aiming for (\$381.52[*]/\$385[**]) but it looks to be worth it.

Option two is if I can hold off a little longer, save a bit more, and get paid back for a loan I made to a friend a few years back — in which case, I’ll go for a more powerful camera. While I’ve had my eye on the Canon Digital Rebel (DPReview listing) (\$1100.90[*]/\$927.99 [body only]) for a while now, Nikon just announced their D70 (DPReview listing) (\$1114.49[][*]) which looks to handily best the Digital Rebel and should be out soon — but the Minolta DiMAGE A1 (DPReview listing) (\$754.19[][*]/\$736.40) is really catching my eye. It doesn’t have the lens-swapping capabilities of the other two, but really, I’m not likely to have the ability (financially or photographically) to worry about that for a long time to come, and the number of features it packs in for the price is fairly astounding.

I’ll keep looking, though, to see if something else looks like a better deal. I’ve gotta come up with the funds first, after all. ;)

[*]{#mcr1} Average of all appropriate results out of the first ten hits in a Froogle search.

[**]{#mcr2} Average of the five prices listed on DPReview’s pages.

iTunes: “Wiggedy Wack” by Utah Saints from the album Two (2001, 1:28).

Digital camera recommendations?

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Okay, so it looks like I’m going to be in the market for a new camera as soon as I can afford it (which, knowing me will be sometime in 2007, but that’s beside the point).

My camera of choice right now is the Canon EOS Digital Rebel — but given its \$1000 price tag, I’m afraid that it’s going to have to stay in the “pipe dream” category for a while.

So here’s my (more realistic, and not that unreasonable) wish list:

  • 2-4 Megapixel resolution.
  • Compact Flash storage.
  • Optical zoom (not digital).
  • Smallish size.
  • \$200-\$350 price range.

Any recommendations?

iPhotoToGallery

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Adding photos to my family photo gallery, the old way:

  1. Choose the photos I want to send to the gallery in iPhoto.
  2. Export the photos to a folder on my hard drive.
  3. Copy the photos to a folder on the webserver.
  4. Log into the Gallery software on the website.
  5. Navigate to the album I want to add the photos to.
  6. Choose Add photos….
  7. Enter the URL of the directory I just copied the photos into.
  8. Upload.
  9. Done.

Adding photos to my family photo gallery with iPhotoToGallery:

  1. Choose the photos I want to send to the gallery in iPhoto.
  2. In iPhoto, choose File > Export…, then click on the Gallery tab.
  3. Choose the album I want to upload the photos to (or create a new album).
  4. Click Export.
  5. Done.

Very, very nice.

(via Forwarding Address: OS X)

iTunes: “New Style Baby, A (’91)” by Pink Stanly Ford from the album Technomancer (1996, 6:47).

Kodak cameras no more

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How very interesting — Kodak, a company who’s name has been synonymous with photography my entire life, will stop selling traditional film cameras in America and Western Europe.

Blaming declining demand, the Rochester, New York-based company said it would by the end of this year quit making cameras that use the Advanced Photo System (APS) format, as well as reloadable cameras that use 35-millimeter film.

[…]

Kodak will still make film for existing Advantix and other cameras, and intends to introduce new high-performance 35 millimeter and Advanced Photo System films next month.

(via BoingBoing and /.)

iTunes: “When Love Comes to Town” by U2 from the album Rattle and Hum (1988, 4:15).

2003 Pictures of the Year

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©2003 Alan Berner

The Seattle Times’ Pacific Northwest magazine has released their 2003 Pictures of the Year special issue, and all the shots have been posted on their website.

While some of the photos merely state the subject and what is happening, several include the thoughts of the photographers regarding the subject matter, how the photo was taken, and other such things. One of the things I enjoyed reading was how often these professional photographers deemed their shots “total luck” — it makes me feel better about my ratio of good shots to pure dreck. ;)

(via Spiel)

2004 Photography Calendar

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2004 Wall Calendar

While I’m certainly not a professional photographer by any means, I do enjoy experimenting with photography, seeing what I can come up with, and occasionally coming up with a decent shot or two. I’ve just selected twelve photographs from my collection, and added two new items to my CafePress shop: a 2004 Wall Calendar featuring those photographs, and a full year calendar featuring a shot of Post Alley, near the Pike Place Market here in Seattle.

Oh, and the full selection of “I’m just here to get laid.” shirts are, of course, still available. I thought for sure I’d have sold more than one by now — maybe it’s not as generally funny as I think it is…;)

Wacom Photography Contest

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Wacom is currently having a “Go Platinum / Go Pro” photo/design contest.

Go Platinum: design a cover for a stock photography CD.

Go Pro: submit a photo for inclusion in a future stock photo CD.

The winner of each contest will get a 40Gb iPod and $1000 as payments for the rights to use their submission.

Pretty cool, I think — I’ve submitted my Post Alley photograph. Worth a shot, at least!

Canon EOS Digital Rebel

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Canon EOS Digital Rebel

Now that my new computer is on the way (two weeks to go, at most…), I’ve started fixating on a new item for my techno-lust: the Canon EOS Digital Rebel.

I’ve had an interest in photography for many years now. I remember playing with my dad’s old SLR camera when I was younger — unfortunately, it didn’t work anymore, but I had fun fiddling around with it. I took one quarter of photography in high school. Not so much that I really remember much of anything, but enough to cement it as a definite interest. However, it’s been a fairly low-level interest for many years.

Just before I left Anchorage I picked up a nice little Kodak digital camera (the DX3500) which has served me well over the past few years. I’ve even managed to come up with a few shots that I really like from time to time (my favorite so far being one of Post Alley here in Seattle). The more I play with it, though, the more I wish I had a more full-featured camera, and the Canon EOS looks to be a really good value.

It’s essentially a full-featured SLR digital camera. 6.1 Megapixel resolution (roughly three times the resolution of my current camera), through-the-lens viewfinder, the ability to accept all of Canon’s EF series lenses and Speedlite flashes, and all sorts of other goodies. It even got rated ‘Highly Recommended’ by DPReview.

The downside, of course, is that I won’t be able to afford it anytime soon. While the \$999 price is extremely good for everything you get with the camera, it’s definitely out of my price range anytime in the near future (especially if I ever want to get myself out of debt). Ah, well — such is the way of life, right? At the very least, it’s a goal for the future.

Of course, if anyone out there is feeling generous at all, you’re welcome to help me out here! ;)

PayPal donations are accepted, if you go shopping at Amazon through this link I’ll get a miniscule percentage of whatever you spend, and, of course, Christmas is only a few short months away. Okay, sure, I’m shameless. But as I’m not expecting anyone to actually chip in, I can’t exactly be disappointed, now can I?