Gear wise I seem to be alternating between the Pentax K10D and the Sony H50.  I keep musing about picking out oneof the old film cameras for a bash with black and white film but dont get all the way to physically picking one out. I post photos on flickr and check out the work of my contacts.  I must confess that my local landscape seems done over repeatedly by me.  So perhaps a little road trip is in order.  Time to brainstorm on that.

on the tech side, my primary photo repository PC died, not sure yet how recoverable and shame of shames I had only a partial backup.  If it is a hard disk crash it will be my second in 34 years, the first came about 2001.  I dont like the frequency getting so short term. Maybe this time I will learn.

I am picking up this blog where I left off.  A new camera joined me, a Sony H50, nice long zoom and nicely sculpted.  My one difficulty is I need more quality time with the manual. I have no idea how to manually open the flash head. Sigh.  Other than that it works well.

artist Jim Ogilvie captured by the H50

dawn view

taken  with a Pentax K10D and a Pentax FA 28-80 3.5-4.5 lens

wood worker's foot vise bench for use in holding wood piece for shaving with a draw knife at the Royal Naval and MIlitary Establsihments historic site at Discovery Harbour, Penetanguishene, Ontario



grind stone wheel with wet trough for sharpening tools



Wharf at Discovery Harbour

If you would like to see some fine photographs of people from the Faroe Islands, check out this slide show on flickr by Saul Panzer, his assumed name from the dectective fiction of Rex Stout.  Fresh, relaxed, direct, empathetic portraits of Faroe Islanders. Panzer shows great skill and sensitivity in his work.  Born in 1954. A real pleasure to view.

taken at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre near Midland, Ontario, Canada with a Pentax K10D, image altered in Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 using the clarify function.





Althought part of my reason for buying the Pentax was its ability to use old manual focus lenses I have found myself using almost exclusively the FA 28-80 f3.5/4.5 lens. Not terribly wide but very useful for general purpose photography.  Some days it does seem a heavy rig to tote, in which case I will take my tiny Sony or my Nikon Coolpix, especially if I have no specific plans to shoot and am just taking a camera along in case a UFO lands beside my car.

1975 I took this photograph and the other day found the old print and scanned it. The Hog Bay CPR  Trestle bridge was built in 1908 and torn down in 1978. On Georgian Bay near Port McNicholl, Ontario.  Over 2000 feet long.

magical photos by Lauren Bentley - found her work on flickr and then found her website, dreamy, surreal, vivid, splendid....

purchased one of these and am getting used to it.... a heavy solid DSLR, very similar in feel to my old PZ-1...I have been mainly shooting in jpeg format to begin with.  Using some old lenses of mine from previous Pentax bodies: FA 28-80  and 100-300, a manual 50mm f1.4 M lens and a Vivitar 19-28mm zoom lens.

I like the camera enormously. More comments to come.

Second Life is a virtual world with a full economy. Part of the economy is art and culture, many art galleries. At the Exposure Fine Art Gallery, real world and Second Life (SL) photographer PJ Trenton is showing for sale photos he has taken in SL and  Real Life (RL).  One interesting function in SL is the ability to take snapshots. Trenton's work is not snapshot quality. He is a fine artist. He has taken an original approach: instead of photographing the beautiful simulations of Second Life, and there are many, he has found the simulations of urban decay, the mean streets. He has a good eye for composition and he has converted his colour photos to black and white which admirably suits the gritty city subjects he has found. Trenton is a Canadian photographer living in eastern Ontario.

Part of the show is a group of fine colour portraits made in SL.

Highly recommended.

To access you will need a fast PC, download the second life software to your computer and set up a free account.

The location in Second Life is at Exposure Fine Art Gallery, Bluehound (158, 18, 115)

the website for Second Life is the link below: