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Top:  Dad, me, Leanne, Kathryn, Josh. Middle:  Roberta, Jennifer, Katie, Dana Bottom right:  Monica, Danielle and Ashley My venerable D300, an iconic favourite of many, was an amazing and reliable camera.  Although it's some 18 years after its first introduction, there are still a lot of them around.  The 12 mp DX sensor produced reasonable low-noise images at high ISOs and the camera could shoot at 6 fps (frames per second) up to 40 images continuously.   I have always had a passion for wildlife, with invertebrates holding a special place in my heart (and no, I am not talking about heartworm).  The D300 allowed me to take my macro photography passion up to the next level and I captured many memorable images with it and various lenses and accessories.  Below there is an image of a male Polyphemous moth; the large feathered antennae giving its gender away. The D300 was, for me, the camera that could be.  It had a broad range of features a...

As is my habit, I buy and sell photography gear somewhat regularly.  Some equipment I have had for a very long time because of its quality and/or irreplaceable function.  Others I buy and use for a while and then sell off in quick succession.  Such was Nikon's D90 camera. The lens I used for this photo was Nikon's 80-400 telephoto zoom, not the "S" version that I currently own.  The combination of camera and lens was good, but looking back I find that the images are somewhat soft and lack the quality that I currently expect from my equipment. One of the problems with low-megapixel cameras was that they used something called an anti alias low pass filter just in front of the sensor.  Its purpose, somewhat ironically, was to produce a tiny amount of blur on the sensor to reduce the effects of moire.  You rarely get this problem in nature, but the human world relies so heavily on repeated patterns that moire often shows its head.  What is moire? Moire is ...

This is the third image in a series of blogs remembering the DSLR cameras I have owned.  After using the S1Pro (1st blog)  and then the D70 (2nd blog) , I ponied up and bought Nikon's D200.  It was a much more advanced camera and boasted a 10 mp sensor.  I bought it used from Henry's in Ontario, but some of the controls were a bit stiff and it limited my enjoyment of it.   It turns out that 10 mp is quite a lot in terms of resolution; maybe not enough for significant cropping, but I have created 16x20 prints of this very shot that are stunning.  I used a slide scanner that was 10 mp and found that it was very capable of reproducing good digital images of my pre-digital world.  Today, many cellphone cameras produce images between 9 to 12 mp and are plenty large enough for the average user. I sold my D70 at some point and bought a D90 as a second body.  I like to have two cameras, one with a long lens for wildlife and a second for landscapes an...

This is a continuation of my blogs on DSLR cameras I have owned. My next camera, after the venerable S1Pro, was Nikon's D70.  It was a remarkable camera and one that I used for many years.  Although it was only 6 mp, it was still an upgrade to Fuji's 3 mp, and it had a few other features that were also improvements. For one, it had a flash synch speed of 1/500th of a second.  Most cameras today limit out to 1/200th, although that can be altered by using high-speed synch (HSS) on modern cameras.  Of course, you need to have a flash that is compatible with that feature.  Another cool feature was its ability to connect wirelessly to off-camera flashes.  I used (and still have) a wireless macro flash, one that I used to shoot the above image with. I photographed weddings, school events, wildlife, and, of course, macro with it.  It was a great all-around camera and allowed me to further explore many aspects of digital photography.  All of my lenses fro...

  I thought I would do a series of photos with the theme of the camera body used to take it.  The above photograph was taken in 2005 with Fujifilm's S1 Pro DSLR camera.  I was photographing snow scenes at the time and was using the rule of thirds as a compositional guideline.  Exposure compensation was used to make the snow white instead of gray.   The Fuji camera was the first DSLR I bought.  I was using film up until that point, although I had some experience with compacts.  I purchased the Fuji camera because I could use all of my FE II's lenses.  It was a period of learning for me as the difference between film and sensor-captured images is significant.  It did, however, allow me to meld my computer knowledge with my photography knowledge and I wrote my first edition of The DSLR.  It is currently in its 4th edition and now is called DSLR and Mirrorless Cameras .  I am teaching a course on it starting next week. It has been ...

Barbie riding on western pond turtle; demands fair treatment. News flash - As we now know, the producers of Disney's Toy Story  used real toys to produce their films and the feature film was later converted to "Digital Tune" (DT) format to make it look animated.  All was well and good and toys found that they developed improved relationships with children all over the world as the young ones granted them newfound respect and value. However, it seems that Barbies did not share in that reformation as they were shamed for their "too-perfect" body image.  "We can't help it, we were moulded this way," was their cry.  They were once considered the epitome of toy-culture and oft-sought by children during the Yule season.  Lately though, their curvaceous body image has been the focus of shaming by many.  It seems that their figures have prompted youth to develop unhealthy desires in terms of what they should look like. Supporters of Barbie agree with the s...