Tonya and PQBON's WebLog
Completely failing my IQ and reading proficiency test, I came up with not 10 opening lines of books I like, but 10 opening lines of books I might write.
Following everyone else (failing to have an original thought). Here are my 10 opening lines to my twelve books (three have the same opening line):
Number eleven is in honor of Charles Schultz, who had snoopy right that same line more then once.
Tonya and I took a trip to San Gregorio Beach on our BMW R1150GS. We stopped at the intersection of 92 and 35 to take some warm up shots (they are in the gallery). Then we went to Alice's Restaurant for coffee to warm up. We then headed to the end of 84 where we stopped at San Gregorio Beach. After filling up the compact flash we went to dinner in Santa Cruz. Home was a cold quick trip over 17.
We took pictures with both cameras and both lenses on the Rebel 350D. I was definitely more impressed with the 18-55 F3.5-5.6 today. The wide angle at 18 was really fun and useful. I can definitely see getting a wider angle lens. There are still things I don't like about the 18-55. The focus ring is really small and hard to use, the zoom tends to creep, 24mm is the shortest physical size for the lens, etc. However, the thumbnail at the upper left corner is at 18mm, I like the color and the textures. It is also pretty shot. It is hard to argue with success. I do want to replace it with a general purpose lens (~24-70) and a super wide angle lens (less then 18mm). The 75-300 was still a lot of fun. Unfortunately, some of the longer shots did not hold their color well. The image on the right was taken at full zoom. Up close it produced good images even at full zoom. Normally, a macro lens would be used but the 75-300 worked in a pinch.
This image was taken at 300. The images are a little soft and that was made worse by the fact that the day was a little hazy. I think part of the problem is depth of field and part of the problem is not knowing all the tricks to get a good picture out of the lens at distance.
This is one of the few distance shots at 300 that had good color. There are a few more mid-distance people shots where the color wasn't washed out. It seems that color was only washed out in the long distance shots. Which when you think about it isn't too bad for a consumer grade zoom lens. One of the things I'm going to try to fix this problem is shooting in RAW and doing the color adjustments on the computer rather then automagically on the camera.
If you want to seem more pictures here is the gallery. The EXIF data is in all the images (thumb nails, scaled, and full size). That should let you know more then I know about what the camera was setup for in each shot. Sample EXIF data for an image is in the extended entry...
EXIF Viewer for the mac.
File name: IMG_0515.thumb.jpg File size: 22241 bytes (3456x2304, 0.0bpp, 1074x) EXIF Summary: 1/500s f/10.0 ISO200 140mm Camera-Specific Properties: Equipment Make: Canon Camera Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT Lens Size: 75.00 - 300.00 mm Firmware Version: Firmware 1.0.1 Owner Name: unknown Serial Number: 0320146512 Image-Specific Properties: Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi Image Created: 2005:04:17 18:00:24 Exposure Time: 1/500 sec F-Number: f/10.0 Exposure Program: Normal Program ISO Speed Rating: 200 Lens Aperture: f/10.0 Exposure Bias: 0 EV Flash: No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length: 140.00 mm Color Space Information: sRGB Image Width: 3456 Image Height: 2304 Rendering: Normal Exposure Mode: Auto Scene Capture Type: Standard Exposure Mode: Easy Shooting Focus Type: Auto Metering Mode: Evaluative Sharpness: High Saturation: High Contrast: High Shooting Mode: Full Auto Image Size: Large Focus Mode: AI Focus Drive Mode: Single Flash Mode: Auto Compression Setting: Fine Macro Mode: Normal White Balance: Auto Camera Actuations: 440532995 Color Matrix: 0 Other Properties: Resolution Unit: i Chrominance Comp Positioning: Co-Sited Exif IFD Pointer: 196 Compression Scheme: JPEG Compression (Thumbnail) Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi Resolution Unit: i Offset to JPEG SOI: 9716 Bytes of JPEG Data: 6856 Exif Version: 2.21 Image Generated: 2005:04:17 18:00:24 Image Digitized: 2005:04:17 18:00:24 Meaning of Each Comp: Unknown Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec Metering Mode: Pattern Focal Plane Horiz Resolution: 3954 dpi Focal Plane Vert Resolution: 3958 dpi Focal Plane Res Unit: i White Balance: Auto Base Zoom Resolution: 0 Zoomed Resolution: 0 ISO Speed Rating: Unknown Digital Zoom: None Self-Timer Length: 0 sec Canon Tag1 Length: 92 Subject Distance: Unknown Flash Bias: 0 EV Sequence Number: 0 Canon Tag4 Length: 68 Image Type: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT Actuation Counter: 3 Actuation Multiplier: 6722 Canon Tag93 Length: 32 Color Temperature: 5200 K Canon TagA0 Length: 28
| You Are 32 Years Old |
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Tonya and I bought a new camera. We bought a Canon Rebel XT. We also bought a Canon 75-300 IS USM lens to go with the Canon 18-55 that comes with the camera. I held off on any of the additional lenses I want or this one. I don't dislike the 18-55 lens but I can tell the difference between it and the 75-300 (and I'm not talking about the zoom). I would like to replace it with a comparable IS USM lens. Hopefully one that goes to 75 or higher so that I don't continue to have a hole in the range of my lenses.
I feel like Shane because I spent about a month asking people I know that are really into photography what they recommend and reading up on digital SLRs online. I decided on the Canon because it seemed that Canon was the best digital out there right now. Every person I talked to asked if I had lenses already. When I said, "no," they all told me to go Canon (keep in mind this was 4 or 5 people). A few crazy people told me to go with Canon L lenses. I didn't. That would have taken an expensive purchase and made it an insane purchase. (L lenses are $1500 + per lens.) Most people recommended real Canon lenses for my first few.
We bought the camera because of our honeymoon in Hawaii. We really wanted to be able to take good photos that would last a life time. 2Mp pics from my old Sony Cybershot just didn't seem like the best idea. Now that Cameras with greater then 5Mp are coming down in price to the point that mere mortals can own them it seemed like a good time to get the best camera I could afford.
Here is a link to the gallery of 259 pictures I look today. Keep in mind that it has been a very long time since I have used an SLR.
The above images were taken with the "big" lens. All photos in the gallery were taken with a UV filter on the lens. Most shots were taken in full auto with no real camera setup.
It actually isn't new. I've been having serious pain at my sternum for a few months now. However, now it has a name, as I went to the doctors office this morning. The pain was really bad yesterday and I decided that I should really get it checked out. After an ECG and Chest XRay, it turns out I have Costochodritis.
It isn't really serious and I have been told to take Advil regularly. After two weeks of Advil I should feel better but it can take 6 months to really be OK.
I'm laying in bed with my wife crowding my side of the bed, and my kitty that I love but never really wanted sleeping on my chest...