My field trip around the Venus Bay Peninsular and Andersen Inlet, was very successful in that it was well supported. Whilst the purpose was to see evidence of the importance of understanding sea level rise and its influence on the development of ecology and landforms, I was abruptly reminded of the power of the sea and specifically recent king tides. The mangroves in the photo below, used to illustrate my notes, have gone and the site I had visited only 5 weeks before showed significant (several meters of) erosion.

click here to download my notes for the field trip "Some Thoughts on The Recent Geomorphological Development, in the Venus Bay Area, related to Sea Level Rise."

...

I know, I know I have been a terrible blogger lately- it is so hard to find time these days! If you want to see how busy we've been have a look at the gallery site HERE.

I wanted to share a couple engagement shoots I has last weekend in San Francisco. Nikki and Matt are getting married in Laguna the Ritz Carlton next June because their families are all down here. They live in Alameda near Oakland and love their new town so they wanted to shoot up there... "Cool!" I said and this is what we got:

This is a forest where they jog all the time- soooo cool!!
Matt's idea to use the frame-
And accross the road in a little field-
Then over the Bay Bridge to San Fran:
A cool building we spotted while driving-

We had a blast- can't wait for the wedding! They were the coolest too- they followed me to drop off my rental car to shoot me over to the airport... I got there just in time... then we didn't board for a half hour or so- of course!

Thanks guys- cool trip!

Many budding photographers I've talked to have expressed an interest in "studio photography." That's normal, of course, because most of the photography we see in everyday life is churned out using a studio. Magazines, newspapers, weddings, websites; they all utilize studio photography. If you want to get paid in this field, learning to light and stage properly isn't just a suggestion, it's a must!

In the past I've taken to Strobist for all my lighting advice and needs. The work of a studio photographer is unique - we need special lighting equipment, special camera equipment, and often an indoor environment that we can control for the shoot. You can always buy the right equipment, so long as you have the money, but where can you find a good location?

Well, locally we now have Perspective 2 studio, located in Lansing's Old Town. It's a community-driven space that hosts photographers in two studios. I like the idea so far, because they seem to have a knowledgeable staff, great equipment for photographers to rent, and classes for those of us who are lighting-challenged. There is also a vintage store on-site, so if you want to, you can rent vintage items to be used as props for a shoot.

Studio A is a huge space that sometimes doubles as a theater for local acting troops. It's about 1100 square feet, has a solid chicago-style brick wall, with high ceilings. Studio B is smaller, at about 800 square feet,...

This beautiful Big Ben & House of Parliament 1024×768 Wallpaper was submitted by photographer Eyal Zarrad. You can check out his website at photo-clicks.com for High quality landscape photography from Europe and especially from around the British Isles. Thanks Eyal!

Click to download Big Ben & House of Parliement Wallpaper (.zip)

Latest - Review and Sample Test Photos by TrustedReviews (added 05 October ‘07)

Nikon Coolpix L11 features

• 6.0 megapixel
• 3x zoom
• 2.4 inch LCD
• ISO range from 85 to 800
• In-camera red-eye fix
• Face priority auto focus
• Camera measures 89.5 x 60.5 x 27 mm (3.5 x 2.4 x 1.1 in), and weighs 125 g (4.4 oz.) without the battery

Check Current Price (more…)

For some time, I have been looking to replace my aged Nikon Coolpix 3100 with another pocket digicam. My requirements were:
an optical viewfinder
decent array of controls
reliable
moderate zoom range
runs on AA batteries
good-sized LCD display
compact
less than $200

Nikon eliminated the optical VF from their coolpix line, so they were out. After looking at other cameras and reading many reviews, I came to the conclusion that the Canon Powershot A-series cameras were my best bet. Although I am a die-hard Nikon person when it comes to film and digital SLR cameras, I wanted something that fit my needs, not a label, and the Canon Powershot A570-IS really attracted me. It may have been Herb Keppler's article in a recent issue of Popular Photography where he featured the Powershot A460 that made me take notice. The A460 is a cute thing, and very inespensive, but lacks the manual control that I wanted. The A560 didn't quite have all the features, but the A570 did. For $50 more, I got a cameras that really has a lot of creative potential, and fits in my shirt pocket.

As you can see, the Coolpix 3100 was getting worn and scratched, and the 3.1 MP count was limiting. With 7.1 MP, movie mode, Image Stabilization, et., etc., the Canon is

...

"Non è mica la morte che importa,
è la tristezza, è la malinconia.
Lo stupore.
Le poche buone persone che piangono nella notte.
La poca buona gente"

[Aforismi - Charles Bukowski]