April 21st and we received one of the largest snow falls of the year. It was very beautiful and changed very quickly with the first light of the morning. I did think to myself if this was a few years ago we could plan for a very busy morning with people dropping off their film. Now this event may only be remembered as long as our hard drives lasts. This is a nice way to enjoy the snow knowing that there is green grass under the melting layer of white. Bill

Finding the right bag for the Sigma Dp1. The bag I use for travel and carrying a SLR around is the Lowpro Slingshot. These bags are designed to be carried on your back, but slide to the front for easy access to your camera. The Dp1 is a much smaller camera but having a similar style bag for me is ideal. Now I like to call my camera bag my purse, because I use it for much more than just my camera. The bag I am modeling in the photo is a Roots bag and it is a sling that unlike the Lowpro can be worn over ether shoulder. There is enough room for the camera with the viewfinder, lens hood and lens shade attached. Also in the main compartment I put my sunglasses and a cleaning cloth. The side and front compartments will hold the battery charger and cables. There is a zippered pocket to fit my passport, tickets and boarding pass. Located on the strap is a pocket for your cell phone. Other items I would put in it are loose change, keys and a tooth brush. I am sure I could find a place for a map if I thought I might need it, most of us men don't need maps, right. I also like Roots bags because there is a picture of my friend Bob, on every bag. Here is a link for more details. Bill

Edmonton and the Sigma Dp1, the weather was great and even with all those meetings and dinner parties I still had time to use the camera. Bill

With spring here there is something new to see every day. We have two river otters that swim by, and Canada geese checking out the barn. While I was away this weekend Sandy kept the camera ready. Here is her goose on the roof photo. We have been using a Panasonic FZ18 for our point and shot camera and with its 18x zoom and excellent stabilization these shots are fun. Bill

Still life number two of my Sigma DP1s. As you can see I am going to be busy. Bill

Good news for people waiting for their Sigma DP1s as they are on their way. Actually this is the second shipment. My friend Max took this picture for our archives. This happens to be our busiest shipping day so far. Bill

Black and White and Dp1. am I having fun. Bill

Meet Martha, she is our motor home purchased in 1973. As you can see she has seen better days, most recently used as a play house. But even that was awhile ago. I have posted these photos for Leif by request. I took them yesterday in the afternoon sun with my new Sigma DP1. Bill

Sigma DP1 still life is the title I gave this photo that I posted on the Sigma forum at dpreview. I thought I would put it here for those of you who may not have seen it. As you may be able to tell I am really excited about this little camera and am enjoying using it. Bill

We woke up to a dusting of fresh snow this morning. Here is my first photo with the new Sigma Dp1. I am really going to enjoy using this camera. Bill

Update, March 20 the cameras are here but the Dp1 accessories must be on a truck, should be early next week.
Update, March 19th, my cameras have been shipped as well as all the DP1 accessories. This is very exciting.
The Dp1 is coming. We will have our stock next week. We would have had it Friday if it wasn't a holiday. This is a very exciting and I might even choose it over a day off if I had a choice. Photographers around the world are lining up to use this unique camera. We have very limited stock and have been taking pre-orders for the last month. There is a link on our home page www.contactphotoarts.com for DP1 info. Bill

I was watching for Bob this morning but didn't see him. I did photograph these two geese swimming by and was very surprised with the detail. The photo is hand held, I sold my monopod, the camera Sigma SD14 with a Sigma 70 to 300 APO lens at 300mm. Bill

New from Pentax, the K20d is now here. If you have been reading my blog you will have seen many photos taken last year with the Pentax K10d. Last year it was our best selling SLR and I was disappointed when we could no longer get them in December 07. The K20d is a very nice replacement and has many improvements over the K10d. There is no review that I have seen posted for this camera but info can be found at http://www.pentax.ca/ This photo I think sums up Spring in Grand Forks. The lens is Pentax's 10 to 17 wide Angle zoom. This lens is a lot of fun. Bill

Big news today for Sigma fans, a new price for the SD14. It is now 695.95 CD. I think this is good timing as there has been more interest because of the DP1. This photo taken with my Sd14 was in the small harbour in Vernazza our base for touring the Cinque Terre. Bill

These two photos are taken inside Pisa's cathedral Duomo. This building is the one along side the tower. One of my objectives with this trip was to use a mono pod as much as possible. These exposures are very long and would not be possible only hand held. Of the 300 photos I took on this trip about 280 of them were taken with a Manfrotto mono pod and a Slik AF 1100E head. A combination I know I will use often again. As well as the stability with using the mono pod, I very much enjoyed the experience of manually focusing the camera and taking time to enjoy composing each photo. This type of photography is very different than the point and shoot mode I see people now using their digital cameras for, but for me part of the enjoyment of travel. The Sigma Sd14 fits this style very well.

We are back and it is good to be back. It was very hard to find a photo to post from our trip, there are just too many and many stories to go with then. Here are two photos and two high lights. I very much enjoyed the tower in Pisa. We had a view of the tower from our hotel window and climbing the tower for me was one of many high lights from the trip. The other photo is two of the many cats in Vernazza, a small coastal village in the Cingue Terre that we made a base to walk from. This village has many cats and few people. I am planning on posting a gallery from our trip but it will take awhile, we have lots of catching up to do. These were taken with my Sigma SD14. In another posting I will up date my experience with this wonderful camera. Bill

May be the last day for the tree. Here is Bob, or it may be Betty as we saw two beavers yesterday, swimming by the tree. We are leaving for our break on Sunday so it will be two weeks before you get to see Bob again. I'll have to bring him back a treat, I wonder if he would like a piece of olive bark. Bill

In the Sigma world most of the talk is about the new compact camera the DP1. It was shown last week at PMA. If you look back to June 06 you find a post by Max regarding this camera, Sigma and foveon sensors. This is what got me started in this direction and resulted in us being the only Canadian stocking dealer. I think that means we are the only Canadian dealer that I know of that takes Sigma cameras and foveon sensors seriously. It is down a different road than other cameras, and not for everyone, but a road that I have been enjoying very much. I am looking forward to using the DP1 and selling it. I was hoping to have one to field test in Italy this month on our short break but it looks like that won't happen. The most I know is that I will have stock in the Spring and at this time the price will be 849.00 cd Here is a link to the Dp1

Sandy and I went for a walk and a drive today with our cameras. We thought we would practice for our up coming trip. Here is a photo from down river. We are leaving here on the 17th and heading for Italy for a short break. We are going to be taking photos, eating good food, drinking fine wine and walking. This camera is the Sigma SD14 with a little spot in the bottom left corner. I have been busy cleaning other peoples sensors I guess it is time I did mine. Bill

With the cold weather I was able to carry on a the Christmas tree tradition this year. A week ago this didn't seem possible but on Sunday I planted the tree in the river to wait for breakup. I will keep you posted. Camera: Sigma SD14. Lens: 17 to 70. Bill