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Facts about prostate cancer - You want to read this.

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Prostate cancer, cancer biopsy, cancer stages, and PSA levels. PSA, or protein specific antigen, is a protein normally produced by the prostate.  It is part of the normal production of semen by men's reproductive system.  It is also normally found in the blood, although in very small amounts.  It is measured in ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter), a nanogram being one-billionth of a gram.  The amount of PSA in the blood is highly dependent on two main factors, one of them being age, the other the healthy state of the prostate gland. The prostate gland is about the size of a walnut, or 30 g (~ 1 ounce).  Prostates may become enlarged, the risk factors being age, family history, diabetes, and heart disease.  In general, men under the age of 40 will not have an enlarged prostate, but men over the age of 80 have a 90% chance of having it.  As you get older, the risk increases. Enlarged prostates can be problematic in that they may restrict the flow of urine a...
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BC teachers' strike, 2005 - what the Alberta teachers are going through.

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  Garibaldi teachers, on strike, October 2005.  That's me, 2nd in on the right. I understand the need to strike.  For me, it was about class size and composition, something our Alberta brethren understand only too well.  Money has been less of an issue as I have always been satisfied with my salary.  I have stood in line with my colleagues, a placard strung around my neck, weathering the elements, as I stood up to the powers drawing up the contracts. Ah, contracts.  The good old days of contracts being worth something.  And then, with the stroke of a pen, they meant nothing.  The BC government took it upon itself to tear up the very law itself by unilaterally declaring all teacher contracts null and void.  Behold - the Autocracy of BC was born.  We all know the outcome of this atrocity.  The law eventually won, but not before the BC government spent 2.6 million defending their hypocrisy and the BCFT spent untold millions.  Not ...
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Dell and the Red Deer River

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Our group that canoed from Red Deer to Drumheller in 2004.   I had wanted to paddle down the Red Deer River for some time.  It wasn't until the summer of 2004 that things came together.  It took us 5 days to travel the 120 km, paddling 24 km or so a day.  On nice days, we put up a sail and lashed the canoes together and just flowed with the current.  We camped at a provincial park one night and along the banks of the badlands on other nights. I don't recall a lot about Dell on the trip, but I know we enjoyed ourselves and played cards when the opportunity arose.  I remember catching a young gopher snake and seeing a few beavers swimming in the river.  My son, Joshua, had recently turned 11.  He wasn't very interested in listening to dad, which made paddling difficult, so Ken and I swapped paddling partners and that took care of the problem. Dell and I did a second trip down the Red Deer River from Drumheller to Dinosaur Provincial Park in 201...
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Does framing make a difference?

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San Antonio River Walk - Left - without framing (cropped) - Right - with framing (original) There is something comforting about a scene with framing.  The images above are the same, except the left one is cropped more than the right one.  I actually like them both, but I find the one that is framed by vegetation is less harsh and more appealing.  The dark elements surrounding the central image draw your eye into the center, but I think there is more to it than that. I think there is something primal going on inside our brains.   We have had 6 dogs (so far), five of them dachshunds.  I have noticed that they are more comfortable when they have something above them.  Indoors, this could be a table, a bench, the insides of a box on its side.  Outdoors, it could be the branches of a bush, a den, or perhaps an overhanging rock.  It all stems from the primal urge to seek shelter and protection.  My guess is that there is something similar goin...
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Focusing on moving objects - options.

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Four different ways of focusing on a moving object.  Center, Active, 3D and eye tracking. Stationary subjects are relatively easy to achieve critical focus on.  The task becomes much more complicated when the subject is moving.  Cameras typically have many ways to obtain a sharp focus.  Wide-angle lenses with small apertures typically require little extra help in this area, but when you are shooting with long lenses using wide-open apertures, the task is exponentially more difficult.  There are a few different ways to handle this. You generally want to use continuous focusing when photographing a moving subject as the focal plane to subject distance is constantly changing.  The exception to this would involve using center-point focusing (Box 1) where you would lock focus, reframe, and shoot.  It is far easier if reframing is not necessary and you could shoot the subject in the center of the field.  This works in some circumstance, but would not be...
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Peggy's cove - on film

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Kathryn and I were in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, in 1991 as part of our Canada trip. Niagara Falls.  Stanley Park.  Peggy's Cove.  These are all places in Canada that resonate in the psyche.  Iconic locations steeped in history and bulging with character.  We have visited all three at one time or another, although I have been at Peggy's Cove only once.  Mind you, it was a perfect day with early morning fog that later gave rise to a stunningly beautiful afternoon. Below is a photo of Kathryn sitting on one of the glacial erratics found near the docks.  The area was covered by a glacier during the Ice Age.  When the mountains of ice retreated, they deposited their earthen contents upon the substrate that carried them.  The whole region is marked by these large boulders that are strewn randomly about. Kathryn, sitting on an erratic near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. What's interesting about the above photos is that I took them with my FE2 Nikon cam...
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Walking with a friend - balm for the soul.

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Tom and Eric at Mission Creek Park.  We walk every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday without fail. I am thankful for my friend Tom, who was a teacher with me at Garibaldi Secondary in Maple Ridge for many years.  We share numerous common interests, including photography, sports, cruising, computers, cooking, and our time as teachers.  We walk for an hour three times a week and enjoy the time together and being surrounded by nature.  Best of all, we enjoy talking about our common interests and the people we know. There is no substitute for spending time with someone you share history with and can connect easily with.  I have never been a very good conversationalist, but my time on our walks passes quickly as we chat about a cornucopia of subjects.  We have gotten to know each other better as well, sharing about our families and the things that matter to us.  We have a respect for each other forged over our shared experiences and knowledge.   It ha...
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