There

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."


What does this mean to me? Well, when I was in the eighth or ninth grade, Mrs. Parker had us write an essay on any topic. I chose the golden rule.  (See photo of Mrs. Parker looking at me for making a paper airplane in class).

I cannot remember exactly what words I used in the essay - but the gist of it was that I felt it was important to live by that rule. I really did, even as a teenager, treat those others who were around me with respect, whether they deserved it or not. Why not? What would it cost me?

The rewards, although not sought after, were plenty. Treat others with respect, and sometimes you'll be surprised at the results. You may find friends in the most unexpected of places. It doesn't matter that the Other is different from you, of a lower or higher class, intelligent or not. It doesn't matter. It doesn't even matter if they're a jerk. It's been my experience that people are often jerks because they're unhappy or tense or because they don't realize they are. But me being a jerk back wouldn't help their situation in any way. Ever. So I treat them with respect. Over time, if I know them that long, sometimes I earn a grudging respect from them, even when others don't. Sometimes things never change, but ... Sometimes they do. But this isn't about the jerks we sometimes run into in life......

A few months ago, someone asked me to help them pick out a computer. I did so, then went and helped set it up. Whilst I was working on it, I was asked if I'd look at a neighbor's printer. I went over to the neighbor, and looked at the printer. There was nothing at all wrong with it - but the software they were using to print from would not wrap when it reached the edge of the page so the text would be cut off when sent to the printer. Internet Explorer 5 behaved that way, and upgrades were available all the way up to 8. I suggested they upgrade to 7 or 8 which would resize the page and print it properly, and for free, and then I left.

It turns out that when they updated that, they also upgraded something else (at my recommendation) that broke Windows totally. It was, I'd consider it, a manufacturing defect. The details aren't so important - the point was, they called me back and said, "We did what you suggested, and now our computer won't turn on." I looked at the company's website and the top listing for support for that model was a problem with doing the Windows upgrades having a conflict on that model. And a link to a fix. So I downloaded software and put it on a cd, and went and fixed the pc for them.

While I was there, we started talking about our hobbies and interests. She was into various papercrafts, cardmaking, and the like. While I am into photography. After I had her computer running again, I logged onto my page and showed her my favorite picture - and she recognized the church in the scene. She immediately went to the phone and called her friend, who was a member there, and described it to her.

Long story short, I donated a print to that friend, and showed her my book that I had published the year before. When she wanted one, I told her that I'd sell it to her for the regular price, but she could take $5 off the price and donate it to the church instead of me. It just seemed like the thing to do. Why not?

And as it turns out, she sold a copy here and there to several of her friends and fellow parishoners... In all, I sold 28 books through her. The $5 per copy that went back to the church was matched by another organization, and so the church earned $280 on the book sale! I originally offered the donation because I was moved to do so. The photo of that church moved me to explore photography in a more active way than ever before. It was the thing to do. Why not return $5 to the church that had helped inspire me to do more. It was the 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' mentality. And the $5 became $280 which made a real difference in their budget.

But rewind that a bit. The first request was from a friend to help with a computer problem. Then I met a friend of the friend, and then through her met a friend of the friend of my friend. And now because I have three friends (and more) instead of one, the church earned $280 towards some much needed repairs. And I made enough profit to pay for a few more copies that I gave to family as gifts.

I could have told my friend that I was too busy (and I was!!). But as a result of the investment, I made new friends, continued along my journey a few more steps... and the church benefitted.

And what started this ramble? Love. Yes, love. When you apply the golden rule to your life in a way that affects those around you, do so out of your heart, or don't bother. Don't do unto them because you are currying favor. Don't do for them because you want something. Don't care for someone in an attempt to make them care for you. Show respect, and express love, with no hope or desire for return. If you love them, help them repair their wings and fly. If they fly away, give thanks because they are able, and if they return and love you back then good. But don't do ANYTHING because you want something. Do it because you care.

After awhile, it can become a habit, a lifestyle. You may find yourself on the Road to... There.


And There is where we all need to try to be.

Shuttle Trip and Other Life Stuff

I've not been very active here for some months now. I am on a 'hiatus' as it were. Not gone, just temporarily absent. A lot of things going on in life, mostly pretty good overall. I have so much to tell you, and so little time.

One of these days, things will be 'normal' again, and in a better way than before. And when life does settle down a bit, then I plan to do some of the things I've flirted with over the past few years - to include more focus on the art of photography, and maybe even some sales... For the time being, I've closed my ebay shop. It was a nice experiment.

The books I put together have been a wonderful success - in terms of distribution. Considering it was a self-publishing effort, and I never sold ANY through the publishers website, and only sold through word-of-mouth, I did great. Enough to give several as gifts and still break even. I sold almost 100 books altogether, and at $60 a pop (expensive by my standards) that was saying something. And not a lot of effort went into it. (Read more here: A Window to My World)

As an, "Oh by the way" you should check out Karen Arnold's deviantArt website, as well as my own, if you're interested in the images in my book. Her collection of five paintings based on my photos may be found, along with many others, at http://buble.deviantart.com/gallery and my page, which has many images from Central PA, is at http://arkansawyer.deviantart.com/gallery .

The last wave of sales was a fundraiser for the church that is featured in the first section, where one of the members of the church stumbled upon my book. For every copy she sold, $5 of the purchase price went back to the church, and it turns out the Lutheran Brotherhood matched the donations dollar-for-dollar. So for 28 copies of the book that the church's members bought, the church itself earned $280, money which went directly toward fixing an old furnace that is used to heat the building. And the funny part of the story is that meeting Ms. Patrick in the first place was a total fluke, an accident, some would call it a coincidence.

And - that has been life over the past year. Full of interesting coincidences that have changed the landscape of my life dramatically. For the first time in 20 years as an adult, I finally have a plan for some of my future. It's not fully formed out, but I am working on it. From budgets that I've set and lived by for the past few months to try and reduce and eventually eliminate debt, to eating healthier to have a longer, happier life. And so much more. And you'll hear more about it as long as we remain friends... All I can say is that Good has entered my life - call it God, the Great Spirit, call it Love, or Grace, or anything you want... I am on a journey toward a better place, and although it's taken and will take awhile to get there, I will continue moving forward one step at a time... I've learned that it's not so much the destination that is important - it's the journey. And as long as I am moving forward with a purpose, instead of drifting with the current, then life is pretty good.

And there's my family... The purpose of this journal was to introduce my son. His nickname is Beanz. He's very active in various bands, including Marching Band, concert band, jazz band, county band, through his school. He's a bright and wonderful kid, if he can overcome his natural teenage tendencies to stay up late and procrastinate. :)

A few months ago, he was invited to participate in a summer trip with a small group of students to Florida, to watch one of the last two launches of the space shuttle, before the fleet is decommissioned. The selection was based on a polling of several teachers as to who should be nominated. Only those students who were selected by multiple teachers were considered.

I gave him two requirements to meet: 1) He had to bring his grades up - and with the marking period just past, he got Distinguished Honor Roll :dance:. And 2) He had to make some effort to do a fundraiser. I told him I'd match him dollar-for-dollar, but so far he hasn't made enough for the deposit. I suggested he start with a letter that I could post to my 'sites' and send out with Christmas cards. And there, I fell down on the job - I didn't even send out Christmas cards. Nor, till yesterday and today, did I post this online anywhere. (I did post a short version of this on Facebook - my page there is James Wheeler if you'd like to befriend me).

Here is Jeremy "Beanz" Wheeler's letter:

Hello!

Since most readers of this is family and friends close enough to be family, you probably know me. Yes, this your friendly cousin/nephew/grandson/friend, Jeremy Wheeler. Now, as many of you may or may not know, I have been selected for a special honor in my school. My math/physics teacher, Mr. Dwane Lahr, has selected a group of students, including me, to attend one of the final NASA space shuttle launches at the end of July next summer in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It is a special occasion that few will actually see close up, like we will. The space shuttle program is being abolished very soon, and is going to be replaced with the original rocket-based design for manned trips to extra-terrestrial bodies, like the Moon. The trip, which is five days long, is going to highlight two days at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. We will also spend a day to have fun, by going places such as Sea World, Orlando Studios, and/or Disney World. Two days are of course devoted to getting to and from Florida (probably by plane). A full document showing our plans and potential extras is shown at Shuttle Trip.

Here's the tricky part. The overall cost for the trip is estimated at around $600 per student. This price is all-inclusive, and covers everything but spending money for our free day. I am planning on getting a job to pay for part of this, on top of other things. Several involved parents are planning a fundraiser to help with the trip. The only thing is, my dad and I don't think it will be enough. I am asking for a small donation (it doesn't have to be much) to help pay for this trip to Florida. If you don't have the money to put into it, that is perfectly ok! Don't worry about it if you don't have it.

If you do, and you would like to donate to the cause, you can pay through PayPal to either arkansawyer@gmail.com (my dad's email address), or jeremy.baggins@gmail.com (Jeremy's email address), or send a donation in any form to

Jeremy Wheeler
1820 Mountain House Road,
Halifax, PA 17032

Many thanks,
Jeremy Wheeler


If you'd like to help out Beanz, a small donation would be appreciated. Even if all you'd like to do is email him and congratulate him on his selection for this trip, feel free to do so! Just let him know you learned about him through Blogger and this post.

A World Within

Yesterday we went fishing, but had a late start. We didn't catch any fish but I found a treasure. The outside of this glass bottle reads (Not a label, actually a part of the glass):

DR. ELLIS

SPECIAL
QUICK DRY
WAVING FLUID

WAVE SET

DR ELLIS SALES CO. INC.
DISTRIBUTORS
PITTSBURGH, PA
CONTENTS 6 FL. OZS

The coolest thing about the bottle, though, was the life within....

Emerson

A friend recommended that I read Emerson, specifically, the essay entitled "Self Reliance". Here's a paragraph from it...

Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say 'I think,' 'I am,' but quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied and it satisfies nature in all moments alike. But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.

Isn't that great? Another line, that I've heard before, goes like this: Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speakwhat to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradictevery thing you said to-day.

I wish I had some worthy thoughts to add to this, but it's enough, for now, to have read and enjoyed it. I hope you will take the time to look up the essay - if you can't make it to the library, check out Project Gutenberg, where they've digitized many classic literature works of the world.

Politics and Finances and who I vote for

Sign by Danasoft - For Backgrounds and Layouts

So one of these days, I'll get around to voting. My choice will be unpopular with some voters, but ... I don't much care.

I've heard all the talk... I know the general positions of all the candidates.

When one says that the other is all about "redistributing wealth" in such a way as to make it seem derogatory... I think back to my childhood...

If someone hadn't redistributed some wealth, we'd have had nothing.

School lunch was free. Toys for tots came through a few times to give us gifts. Mom was often sick and didn't work and Dad worked his butt off but never could quite get ahead with his 10,000-12,000 annual income to feed the family.

***WARNING:  TANGENT AHEAD***

As an adult, I've fought for years over the whole credit card thing... Finding out that after awhile, one or two late payments here and there seems to give big banks the right to charge up to 35% or more in interest - not to count any 'penalties' they provide.

** The following is a hypothetical situation but all too real for many of us.  My own personal situation spans 10 to 15 years, instead of the five outlined here, but it's also multiplied several times over as well... It doesn't take long to get snowed under by credit card companies... But it can take a lifetime to dig your way out. **

SCENARIO ONE:

Let's do the math for a second. I open a credit account with Citibank.. I "borrow" 10,000 at 10% APR interest. My monthly payment is, say, 4% of the balance, or $400. I pay the payment of $400, leaving a balance of 9,600 + 83 or $9,683.

Next month, my statement comes... It shows the 'old balance' of 9,600, plus interest charges of $83, (the interest is roughly 10000*10% ($1000) divided by 12, or $83 give or take). The new minimum payment due is 4% or $387.32.

Now, gas prices go up, making the president and vice president's bank accounts go up (but not mine)... (of course, that isn't true, I am sure they severed their ties to big oil before saying "I do" *ahem*). I find myself short on cash, so I send Citibank $300 in month 2.

On next month's statement, I see a few things new:
A beginning balance of 9683, minus $300 in payments, plus interest of around $80, plus a late fee of $39, leaving a new balance of (9683-300+80+39 or $9502). The new minimum payment is $380 plus the $100 left unpaid the prior month ($480). This month, I scrape things together and send the entire minimum payment of $480...

Next month, I get a suprise... Since I've had late payments posted to my account, my interest rate is no longer the 'preferred rate' but is, instead, 24.99%. My beginning balance was $9502, minus my payment of $480 or $9022, PLUS $198 in interest leaving a new balance of $9220. However, last month, in order to scrape the money together to make my minimum payment on time, I charged some gas to my card, so now I am back up to $9,500, and my minimum payment due is still $380.

I see that my interest rate just did a more-than-double trick so I surely don't want to use the card any more, so instead of paying the full amount due, I cut back a little, and send them $200 and pay cash for my gas.

This next month's statement has more surprises... My prior balance, as you recall, was 9,500, minus $200 just paid, but because I didn't pay the minimum due, I have a fee of $39 added to the balance, and since I am now a repeat offender, my interest rate goes up again, and now I find it's at 34.99%. In summary:

Prior balance: 9500
Payments: -200 (9300)
Fees: +39 (9339)
Interest: +272 (9611)

I get into this vicious cycle now, where my minimum payment is roughly $380 to $500, and I am struggling to make it, finding that my balance goes down approximately $100 a month - if I am lucky... Here and there, I make a payment a couple days past due (gotta wait for payday). My interest rate never falls, I use the card sparingly but enough that the $100 balance credit that I should have is canceled out, and this goes on for, say, five years.

At the end of five years, here's what I find in totals:

Original balance: $10,000
New Charges: (average $100 per month for 60 months = $6000)
Payments: (average $400 per month for 60 months = $24000)
Interest: (average $275 per month for 60 months = $16,500)
Fees: (2 late fees per year for 5 years $39 each = $390)
New balance: almost $33000 minus my payments of $24000, or around $9000.

At this rate, I'll pay $400 per month for many, many years, before my original $10,000 balance is paid off. As it is, in five years time, I've "borrowed" a grand total of $16,000 and paid a total of $24000, and still owe another $9000.

SCENARIO TWO (aka the way it should be):

If the original terms of the agreement had been followed by all parties - or if the bank were reasonable and not so greedy, and kept an honest interest rate of 10% despite my late payment now and then (whack me with the fees, go for it!) the picture might have been totally different.

Year one:
Original balance: $10000
Payments: $400 per month for year one, or $4800
Interest: (at 10%, approximately $1000)
New charges: $100 per month or $1200
Balance: 10000-4800+1000+1200 or $7400

Year two:
Original balance: $7400
Payments: $400 per month for year two, or $4800
Interest: (at 10%, approximately $740)
New charges: $100 per month or $1200
Balance: 7400-4800+740+1200 or $4540

Year three:
Original balance: $4540
Payments: $400 per month for year three, or $4800
Interest: (at 10%, approximately $454)
New charges: $100 per month or $1200
Balance: 4540-4800+454+1200 or $1394

Guess what... I break even in the third or fourth month of year four.  By year five end, I have not only paid my credit card off, but have managed to put about $7000 into the bank... 

The finance company just made a fair $2500 or so profit on me, I am happy, they should be too...

But instead... Instead scenario one is lived by many individuals, banks and finance companies today... and now, because I am homeless and can't pay my bill, the bank has to call this 'bad debt' and because I am not paying my credit card as I agreed to five years ago, the bank is hurting, and the federal government needs to bail them out.

It doesn't matter that I just paid them almost $25000 in payments, on $16,000 in charges, giving them a hefty $9000 in profit... what matters is that on the books, I am a bad debtor, and owe them $9000 that I'll never be able to pay off.

I like the ideal represented by Scenario Two above.  We all win... and in a perfect world where money flows freely into my checking account and I never, ever post a late payment, then maybe it's possible to live scenario two.  But when one of the bread earner's loses their job, or becomes disabled, or, heaven forbid, gas prices quadruple in a few years time, sometimes crap happens.

Back to my vote.

From an independent-seeming site, I garner the following facts about our candidates:

McCain would cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%, and favors permanent tax credits to business for research and development.  For people earning 250,000 or more per year, he wants to keep Bushes tax cuts.

Obama says that he'd let the Bush tax cuts expire for those earning 250,000 or more.  And the whole corporate tax rate?  Leave it at 35%.  And end all the loopholes and deductions for industries like Big Oil.

For personal taxes, McCain says, "double the dependent deduction to $7000" and Obama says to implement a $500 per person or $1000 per family 'credit' on the taxes.

The McCain plan means this to me:  If I earn enough income to be in a 20% tax bracket, I'd have an extra $3500 exempt from taxes - which means I'd save approximately 20% of 3500, or $700.  The Obama plan says I'd save $1000.

Furthermore, Obama says for seniors making less than $50,000 eliminate their taxes.  Period.  My whole family would benefit directly by that one.  

I do get McCain's preachiness about how Obama wants to 'redistribute wealth' while he wants to increase wealth.  But from someone who has lived and does live down in the trenches of life in America, I can't afford any more of this "increase the wealth of the wealthy" attitude, in the hopes that some of it might trickle down to me..

In this, I must vote for the person who will enable me, somehow, hopefully, to get that extra $300 tax break - and to hell with those people who are making $250,000 a year.  If they can't afford the extra taxes then who can?  Certainly not my Mom or Grandmother, both of whom live month to month on their social security checks, just hoping that they'll have enough to pay for their groceries or medicine or both... and feeling terrible because they can't buy nice gifts for their grandkids and greats.  They need a break from that, too.

Much of my family supports McCain, and I am sure he is a real American Hero... I do respect the man.  But I think his support of the wealthy and of Big Industry is dead wrong.  My vote goes for Obama.

I just hope that somehow, someone puts a stop to the craziness involved in credit financing - even though it's been an invisible subject since the big 'bailout' plan had to pass congress in such an emergency.  Honestly, I am not paying my citibank cards another dime till I have some money comfortably saved somewhere... because I don't have two nickles to rub together by the time the next payday rolls around.

As for YOU.  Just vote.  And if your conscience says to vote for McCain, then GO FOR IT.  Just do it.  May God bless the winner and those he represents.

Canon EOS Rebel XSi Review

Background:

The last camera I bought was a Sony DSC-H7B... A camera that I love to hate... Meaning it has so much potential wrapped up in it with the 8MP, 15x Zoom, etc... But with Sony's compression (no options) image quality suffers big-time. A full review may be found here: http://arkansawyer.blogspot.com/2007/07/sony-cybershot-dsc-h7b-review.html

Finally, a few months ago, I decided it was time to do it right... But I knew I couldn't afford to take the leap yet to a Digital SLR camera. I had thought about getting a Sony, but honestly after the point-and-shoot, I wasn't too impressed. The good side was compatibility with my old Minolta SLR... itself a low end film model. But I only had the kit lens and a basic 70-200mm zoom, bought on clearance somewhere, so it's not as if I was losing much if I went with another brand.

I considered Pentax, because they've been around a long time, too, and have great quality equipment... In the end, one of my biggest frustrations has been low light shots... and I started looking for a Pentax vs. Canon review and what I found was mostly reviews of newer models of Nikon and Canon cameras... The review that intrigued me most was a comparison of four top brands in astrophotography.

Ah-ha, thought I. The Canon and Nikon were very similar in quality, and references were made to the fact that they both blew away the competition... I am no astrophotographer, but I have been known to take moon shots occasionally, and eventually maybe I'll get a really good one.

So if I narrowed it down to Canon vs. Nikon - I know more Canon users than Nikon, and my friend Jamie Walling is a firm advocate of Canon. Add to that that I could buy older Canon camera outfits (film) anywhere for a reasonable price these days... and the digitals are dropping in price every week, I sensed a real possibility there.

I started looking and happened to stumble upon an eBay auction that listed a Canon EOS Rebel 2000 35mm camera, a 28-80mm kit lens, a UV filter, a polorizing filter, a Canon branded camera bag, a Canon branded lens cleaning kit..... and I won the auction ($50 + $10 shipping).

To start there, I took some awesome shots with the 2000. Here's one of my favorites:

This was shot with the Rebel 2000, ISO400 film, Sigma 70-300mm macro-zoom.

You can read my review of this camera here:
http://catalog.ebay.com/_W0QQ_fclsZ1QQ_pidZ52119363QQ_tabZ3QQ_uaidZ780597746

I kept having fun with it - thinking, "It's great to have a REAL camera." Finally, though, the cost of film and processing, began to add up. It dawned on me that the newer Canon digital camera could be bought with a payment less than my film processing costs...

So... enter the XSi. I purchased it bundled with the 18-55mm IS EF-S lens. I added a 4GB PNY memory card. I will go into some detail later about my thoughts on each of these items.

This image was captured with the XSi at Wildwood Lake in Harrisburg, with a low-end 70-300mm Sigma telephoto zoom lens attached, on 9-02-2008.

This was taken 8-31-2008, from Negley Park in LeMoyne PA, overlooking City Island and the Harrisburg skyline. The green dome on the lower right side is the state capitol building. The fireworks are a part of the annual Kipona Artsfest that is held on Labor Day weekend at Riverside Park. The lens was the 18-55mm IS kit lens, at 4 seconds, using a tripod for extra stability.

This is a hand-held shot, taken 8-29-2008, at the Halifax High vs. Shippensburg High football game. The runner is a Ship football player... (they ended up beating Halifax 14-3 but they are also a much, much larger team - in a different division - which means that it won't count toward the state championships). The lens was the Sigma 70-300mm telephoto.

This beautiful young lady is "Min", a friend of the family. This photograph was taken at Colonel Denning State Park in Central Pennsylvania, using the 70-300mm Sigma lens. Actually, most of my best shots during that photo shoot were taken with the kit lens... But I did like this one a lot.

I haven't had a chance to use my 50mm f1.8 Canon lens very much, but the few shots I do have with it are leaving me wanting to experiment more. This is one such shot, taken along Powell's Creek on 8-16-2008.

Ahh... waterfalls... One of my favorite scenes... And something I've only taken two trips to take photographs of, or rather - SERIOUS photos of. This was taken on 8-17-2008 at Rickett's Glen State Park in north central Pennsylvania, with the kit 18-55 lens.

And this would be Lucky! I came home on 8-15-2008 to find him relaxing in my chair. He would not get up - just looked at me with that paw resting comfortable under him. I grabbed the camera of course, and shot him till he got tired of it, and finally he got up and left me to my chair.


First impressions:

Now that I've given you world history, and a sampling of photos taken over the past month, now we're to the meat... What can I say?

When I got the package, and unpacked it, I couldn't wait to get started. But of course, batteries must charge and all that. So I stuck the battery on the charger and started reading through the books, installing software, etc.

Surprisingly fast, the battery was charged. I was used to a 3-4 hour wait time on the Sony point and shoot, and about 300 shots per charge. On this one, I charged the battery in an hour or hour and a half, and still haven't run it down in a day's shooting (once filling up a 4GB memory card and then some with RAW+JPG shots). I think I can easily get 600-800 shots as long as I don't overuse the flash and even a respectable number with part time flash (I used the flash some the day I filled the 4GB card).

Confusion? Everything was pretty straightforward till I tried to use the live-view mode. I played with options trying to figure out how to get autofocus to work, and finally gave up in disgust, thinking something was wrong with the camera.

Finally, a day or so later, I got the book out and dug it up. Turns out autofocus in live-view is controlled by the * button, not the shutter button as is the case normally. My guess is it's a way to encourage people to get away from using the live-view, which eats the battery life very quickly.

I have, once or twice, used live-view successfully after figuring it out - but with an optical viewfinder (instead of the digital one on the old Sony or my prior Olympus pointandshoot), I don't find much value in the live view mode. I prefer the viewfinder, actually.

Image Quality:

This is one area where I definitely cannot complain... I have had to learn the camera's foibles... But those are mostly in terms of overcoming my point-and-shoot bad habits, not in any problems with the camera itself.

For example, I used to lock the Olympus into ISO 64, it's lowest setting. The Sony, ISO 80. This camera's lowest ISO is 100... But I've learned not to be afraid of ISO 400. Indeed, even 800 or 1600 has a remarkable clarity... I have shot a speeding roller coaster (not pictured here) and gotten very sharp images at 1600.

I did try a portrait at 1600 and there was enough noise to distract from her skin, but at 400 the noise was almost invisible.

I feel like I can easily get 20x30 shots with this camera. I've never had a camera capable of that.

And I can't wait to see a print in that size to see how it looks.


Some of the things I don't like (and these are very minor things):

1) All the auto modes do not allow capture in RAW mode. That said, I've learned over the past year or two to use Program mode a lot, and with this camera, some of the other manual settings... so really I can shoot RAW+JPG as much as I want. Sometimes I go back to the default AUTO modes just for a reality check.

For example, if I try a portrait shot, in Portrait mode, and the camera chooses to take it in auto mode at ISO 400, f4.5, and 1/250 second, then that gives me a starting point in the manual modes...

2) Live-view could be much more user friendly. No need to go into more detail - it's outlined above. That said, I am not a huge fan of live view anyways, so... *shrug* No big deal.

3) The kit lens is an EF-S instead of EF mount. That means it works great with this camera, but not with my 35mm Rebel 2000.


Things I really like about the camera:

1) Image Quality. Overall it is superb. The option to shoot in RAW mode added to the Canon processing software is a very powerful addition to the usability of this camera. The RAW mode has already saved the day a few times - it captures tons more detail than straight JPG shooting as most point-and-shoots support. At the end of the day, this is the most important feature of any camera. Period. And this one is a winner in this department. The only shots I've really been disappointed in were when I was using the 300mm zoom at close distances without using macro mode.... I had some focusing issues that I think were more the lens and photographer's fault than the camera's.

2) Live-view. It has it. Although not always useful, I do look forward to using my laptop as my LCD screen and try some portrait shots indoors with it.

3) The kit lens is image stabilized. I tried turning IS off and on and did various shots - and it definitely does a great job.

4) Lens compatibility. All Canon EF type lenses work in this camera. I did use the kit lens that came with my 35mm and got some good shots out of it.


There's more that can be said, but in the end, this is a great camera outfit. I could go on and on - but the photos speak for themselves... Feel free to let me know what you think of this review... and any questions you may have, I'll be glad to try and answer.

Mom to be

A turtle at Wildwood Lake Park in Harrisburg PA. We walked up to see the turtle, and a rather largish snake nearby. We startled the snake but the turtle didn't even try to run away. After a few minutes, we saw why.

Groundhog Regrets

A few days ago, we were on our way out Powell's Valley Road heading somewhere not so important after all, when I saw something that I should have gone back and photographed. I thought... well, the camera I have doesn't see things the way I do... everyone else is ready to get where we're going... there's a hundred excuses not to do it.

The scene? Amber waves of grain. Literally. It was sunny, the grain was ripened to a golden hue in the bright sunlight, the breeze was blowing, causing the grain to wave in the sunlight. And between the fields of grain was bright green fields of corn. It was an awesome sight in it's own way.

Today, they baled that grain into haybales. That photo op that I had the other day is gone for good.

Early this morning, on the way to work, I stopped and took a photo. I took it with two cameras, and I am hoping the other camera did an even better job - but we'll see. As it is, I am proud of this photo:


As I started to drive back down the road, I spotted another splash of blue against the golden backdrop of grain. It was an oh-so-very bright bluebird... Very, very pretty. Experience tells me if I'd stopped, and gotten out with the camera, there's a good chance it would have flown away before I got focused on it, and my daughter was ready to be at her friend's house already, so I drove on.

But maybe, it wouldn't have flown away.

But what really baked the cake (so to speak... ) was this afternoon on the way HOME from work. I thought, "I have some time to kill... I am going to drive up to Boyd Big Tree Preserve, and look around. I did, too. After I pulled of Route 322 onto Fishing Creek Rd, with my destination in mind, I looked over and saw the coolest thing.

I have yet, in the eight years I've been in Pennsylvania, to take a good shot of a groundhog. Yes, there's Puxtahawney Phil, but I've not seen him. But here was a groundhog, not waddling through the grass like we usually see, but rather, next to the road, his paws up on this weed that was more of a bush than a weed, biting at a branch very above his head.

I haven't ever seen a groundhog behaving quite that way. But I was driving too fast. Like the bluebird, I had the feeling that if I stopped, he'd run away, so I didn't. But that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I drove to Boyds, even took a couple photos - one or two might be okay.

But after I left, I pulled out my cell phone and jotted a note to myself... the subject was "groundhog regrets".

Secret Ingedient

From time to time, I've taken a few great shots... and a lot of merely good ones, I suppose, but a few really great ones. And they usually happen despite myself - meaning they are accidents of some sort, or just merely the result of being in the right place at the right time.


With that thought in mind, I am going to share a link to a photo my buddy Jose shared with me (No - I do not know the photographer).

This external link will take you to CNN.com's site. This is one of those "perfect moments" that most of us don't quite happen to catch...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/04/tanker.fire.irpt/index.html

An ebay experiment

I've never sold on ebay... I have bought a thing or two over time - but never have I sold.

But I wanted to direct some traffic back to my photobook's page on the blurb site, and so I thought I'd do something that I read about... which is to advertise/list prints on ebay. Provide a link back to the book's page, etc.

I can get 11x14's printed locally for a good price, for good quality prints. My objective here isn't to make money, but rather, to test the waters and learn a little about selling online.

With that in mind, I started my prices at 2.99 plus shipping - which wouldn't even be a break-even for me if they sold at that price. BUT it was something... A friend looked and advised - if I do ever sell anything, then sell more later - it's harder to keep customers once you raise your prices.

So I revised/listed my prints for a much more realistic price of $10 plus shipping... But again, I am not caring if I make money - my objective is to break even and learn the waters, so to speak, so I started looking for something that would be a worthwhile charity for Central Pennsylvania - and one thing I've learned is that the Central PA Food Bank is there for people - especially in the hard winter months and during the holidays...

Through scouts and other activities over the years, we've donated food before, but ebay has them as a charitable partner. So I put 10% of my selling price to go to that organization. The only catch? It's a minimum $5 donation.

So if I sell any prints at the starting bid of $10 - $5 automatically goes to the Food Bank, the other $5 is spread over the cost of the prints, the ebay fees, and so on.

In the end, I won't make anything.........

But that's okay.

If you are interested in purchasing a print from me, you can get it cheaper through my ebay page than through deviantart prints service. Right now, I have a handful of Harrisburg area shots listed - I can list special requests if you have any... and at this point I will gladly continue the partnership with the food bank - just to gain the experience and perhaps get some positive feedback on ebay - and learn the ropes, so to speak. :)

Arkansawyer on eBay

Central PA Food Bank on ebay.


Let me know what you think - and if you think a photo is worth $10 - $15 feel free to make a bid. :)

err. For those more serious ebay shoppers out there - my "postage" on the current listings was for priority mail to US addresses. Any suggestions on mailing large format photographs? Like packaging and priority vs parcel post, etc., etc. I am a 100% newbie at this... and again - looking to learn the ropes.

Central Pennsylvania Photobook

I still need to finish posting my individual sections here, but I am going to skip ahead and post photos of the finished copy of the photobook I just had published. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at arkansawyer@gmail.com for more information.

All images and the photobook are copyright 2005-2008 James Wheeler and/or Karen Oudeman.

The best movie quote of all time.. IMHO

My First - A Photo How-To Experience

This quick post is in response to a comment on my photobook series image, "My First"...

Central PA Photobook Series: Country Living

"How did you ever happen to capture that?"

I will go back a few years... a buddy and I, both potential photographers without the money and time to deal with the cost of film, used to sit on the balcony at the dormitories on Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio Texas... and we'd watch thunderstorms roll in. He'd try to capture lightning shots and may have been occasionally successful. As for me, I quickly learned I could go through a heck of a lot of film and never capture anything but a dark sky.

A couple years ago, when this photo was taken, I had just recently gotten a decent digital camera, an Olympus C765-Ultra Zoom model. It was 4.1MP (good enough in it's day even if it's not the newest and best now). And I was really beginning to get the bug.

Now I live in Central Pennsylvania, and there are things to take photos of in my life every day - all I have to do is learn to open up my eyes. So I had begun to bring the camera along part of the time... and around home I was looking at wildflowers and sunsets and things with a new eye, when one day a thunderstorm rolled up Powell's Valley from the west, straight towards our house.

It was a very slow-moving storm front, and as it got nearer and nearer, the lightning just kept popping, over and over and over again... I got my camera and went out in the back yard (facing the west) and I took shot after shot... almost 60 total - and got nothing but pitch black skies or an occasional "glow" on the horizon. There was lightning all right - I was just getting really good at missing it.

I got discouraged, disgusted, and went inside in a humph... I quit. As I sat in my easy chair, I started looking over the camera. I though - hmmmm... this has a manual setting that has a 15 second exposure... Other than the lightning, it was pitch black outside. Maybe, I should try that.

By this point the storm was passing our house, and rain was beginning to pound down, so I went out front, and stood under the overhand of our porch, pointed the camera into the night-sky, and pressed the shutter button. 15 seconds later, I had myself a black image. I tried again... same results. But the third time, the lightning struck the mountain and the rest is history, as they say.

I have some comments and 'lessons learned' as it were.

1) Knowing what I know now, it's not too smart to be standing out there taking pictures of something this deadly. Look how the tendrils of the lightning came back through the sky right over my head. When we're looking there with the naked eye, we tend to see a really quick light "explosion" and then darkness again - but the camera caught a lot more than that. So if you ever do something like this - don't go stand out in the middle of the field and just do it.

2) I got really lucky. I didn't use a tripod. I might have had the camera braced on the porch post or something but I am not even sure about that. In subsequent attempts, I find myself getting a lot of doubled-lines if I do not use a tripod to steady the camera. Probably the only reason I got what I did in this attempt was because it WAS so pitch black outside that all the camera saw was in that brief second of light.

3) Longer exposures work great - in pitch black darkness. If it's daytime - you just have to get lucky. :)

Hope you found this useful and/or informative. Have a great day!

Photobook 6: Wildlife

Post six of a series of photographs I am going to use in an upcoming photobook. All of the photos in this series were taken by me in Dauphin County Pennsylvania and its neighboring counties, between 2005 and 2008. Occasionally I will also post paintings based on my photographs. The artist behind these paintings is my friend, Karen Oudeman, from Gouda, the Netherlands.

This is the the section entitled Wildlife. In my time in Pennsylvania I have been lucky enough to see many various creatures. I have just very recently photographed a porcupine and elk in the upper part of the state, and have seen black bear there, as well as here near home. However, in this collection - I am only including area scenes - and I have not had the luck to catch a bear with my camera.

However, there are many interesting creatures - from deer and ring-neck pheasants to many types of insect. I love to go out on lunch breaks to local nature centers in the hopes of finding some "nature" and sometimes I am successful. :) I hope you enjoy this collection - it does not do justice to the many diverse species of animals and insects to be found in the area.

The text on the section introduction page reads as follows:

Central Pennsylvania has an abundance of wildlife. White-tail deer are very common in the area, and one of my favorite pastimes as a photographer is to stop and photograph a deer as it stops to look at me (but all too often it runs off before I get the camera in place). Other mammals, waterfowl, amphibians, and reptiles are fairly common in state forests and park areas such as Wildwood Lake in Harrisburg. In Powell's Valley, ringneck pheasants are a very common sight. Various species of insects and bugs may be seen, from common bees and butterflies to the saddleback caterpillar. This area is an animal lover's paradise.




























All images copyright 2005-2008 James A. Wheeler or Karen Oudeman.

Contact me at arkansawyer@gmail.com for information on obtaining copies of any of these prints or information on the upcoming 160 page photobook, which will be a "coffee table" style hardcover book complete with paper sleeve cover, initially priced around $60 - which to my cheapskate pocketbooks seems high until I compare the cost to that of eating out at a nice restaurant, which for a family can quickly exceed the cost of this book, and is quickly forgotten.

The series so far:
Photobook 1: The Story
Photobook 2: The Church
Photobook 3: Farmscapes
Photobook 4: Country Living
Photobook 5: Waterscapes
Photobook 6: Wildlife

I prefer my coffee black, thank you

Ever have one of those days?

It all started yesterday. I work in two places - err... I am employed by one employer who has facilities at two different addresses? Something like that.

After a meeting at my "normal" place, I went to the other one... I grabbed a coffee mug full of coffee on my way out the door. I downed it on the way over, and left the mug sitting in the cup holder of my truck.

Then last evening, I had to take the kids into town. Jeremy was going to scouts, and Kate was hanging out with me, walking down by the river, trying to find some pretty shots:

 

 

 

We did find the pretty pictures, got Jeremy and headed home...

And this morning, I got up and came into work. I pulled the McDonald's napkin that had been stuffed into my mug out and threw it away without a second thought. I rinsed the mug quickly, poured the coffee, and went to my desk.

I logged on the computer, sat sipping the coffee for a moment or two, thinking... This is pretty good coffee today.

Then I noticed it. Something stuck to the inside of my mug. As I looked, a sinking, queasy feeling developed. A bit of the lump broke away and drifted into the blackness of the coffee.

It's a good thing I have a heavy duty stomach and don't get sick very easily... because I KNEW what it was.





Rewind to last night again. We were a bit late, needed to eat, so I thought - we'll go through the McD's drive through.




As we neared town, Kate sneezed. When she did so, she pinched her nose shut. I fussed at her - you can (and she has in the past) hurt your ears that way. She said, "Well... it's better than the alternative." And I insisted it was not. So on came another sneeze. This time, the snot did fly.

I had Jeremy look in the glove box but I had nothing. My handkerchief I had left at home when I changed out of my work clothes. So when we got to McD's, I asked the drive-through person for extra napkins. Most of them ended up on the floor of the truck. But one, got stuffed into my mug.

err. Guess which one.