Something I think I relearned this weekend is always have a camera ready. There have been a few photos I have missed because the camera was in the camera bag with the wrong lens. Not this one, we hear pheasants all the time, often see them fly by, but they are very hard to photograph. This was taken through the window as he was running away. Bill

This photo was taken for our ad in this week's Weekender Magazine. For people finding their way to my blog because of that ad, welcome, if its your first time here. The info you may be looking for on photo printing and print fading can be found by going to the bottom of the page and clicking on old posts. For other people the ad I am referring to has very many words and when I am able to link it, it will be here. I need Max's help first. Here is the link Bill

Here is a photo of two customers, Mrs Robertson and her daughter using our photo ordering station. We are very proud of what we have accomplished by building our own software solution so it is easy to order digital photos from your cameras memory card. After years of looking at software solutions from photo companies and being frustrated at what they had to offer, the solution was to build our own. For most photo labs this would not be possible but they wouldn't have someone with the talent of our IT person Max Milaney on staff. The ease of use and features our order station offers can not be easily described, but something I would like to show you if that was possible. The next step for us is to add it to our online photo order web site as option # 3

The first light this time of the year is so nice. This photo is taken with a Pentax 10 to 17 fish eye zoom at 10mm. It is about 180 degrees and has been fixed a Little for distortion. I haven't seen Bob the beaver lately but there are deer in the photo. Bill

Happy Mother's Day Mom. Today was our first family day in the store for the season. I know you don't need a new camera and I'm hoping my sister gives you flowers, so I thought a family photo of us would be nice. Also, you were just the 1001 visitor to my blog. Hope to see you in June. Your son Bill

While filing my photos today I found this one. How many deer do you see in the photo? Clicking on the photo will enlarge it on your screen.

The deer and I were watching for Bob the beaver today, we did catch a glimpse of him swimming by. By watching these deer it should not be to long before we see the first fawns of the Spring. Bill

Here is today's best of Bob, I named him Bob. The river still will come up another meter or so, and this might change Bob's eating habits. The goose just kept flying by until I took his picture, I think he may be jealous of Bob. Bill

Better camera, Pentax K10D, better lens, Sigma 70 to 300 APO, same beaver. Hand held at 1/90 of a sec. Love that in camera stabilization. Bill

It does pay to get up early, one photo today of my friend the beaver and two ducks, and one of just the beaver. I think I should get a better lens and take home a better camera if my friend the beaver and I are going to keep sharing our breakfast time.

Two photos today, one of the beaver across the river that I have been trying to photograph for the last week, and one of the goose that wakes me up early so I can look for the beaver. The photo of the beaver was after the sun went down, I'm looking for a photo of him in the morning. Bill

Panasonic SDR-S10 is here. Video recording will never be the same. For a very long time people have been predicting the end of tape for video recording and this Spring with new products from many companies the end is near. The S10 is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket, has a big screen, 10x zoom, stereo sound and records MPEG2 on a SD card. A camera like this would also easily fit in a camera bag along with an DSLR. With travel there are times good video and sound would be something I would use. Places that come to mind are a Spanish crowded morning coffee shop where you can't talk over the sound of china plate being tossed about or that sound of a French police car on a Paris street. Here is a link to Panasonic.

Mother's day is coming soon and a survey commissioned by Circuit City Stores in the U.S. has discovered what Mothers really would like. You may have guessed, 20 per cent would like a new digital camera, with 16 per cent wanting a new camcorder. And flowers, 16 per cent would enjoy flowers. In the same survey it was discovered the chief family historian 58 per cent of the time is the Mother with Father at 26 per cent and the kids 15 per cent. Looks like this Mother's Day you can't go wrong by giving a new camera and fresh flowers. Candy was only one per cent but at only one per cent I don't think they included chocolate, but there is always Father's Day. Bill

Nikon Coolpix P5000 is a new compact now in stock. I was waiting to see a review before stocking it but I have a soft spot for high quality small cameras with an optical view finder and I couldn't wait any longer. Here are two of the first photos I have taken with it. At first glance there is more noise than I would like to see but it is a small sensor 10mg camera. Second thought it wasn't too long ago I would take this test shot to see if I could see the bricks in the City Hall. I plan on carrying this camera in my pocket for awhile and I will keep you posted. Here is a link to Nikon. Bill

Pentax K10D's now in stock, we have more coming this week with one on the shelf, that is when it is not in my hands. Bill P.S. more of the Panasonic FZ 8 and TZ 3 are coming on Wednesday as well

Here is an ad we are running in the new Boundary Creek Times news paper. We would like everyone to know of our new Crumpler and Lowepro bags. They are not just for cameras but just about everything. If you have never looked at the Crumpler web site here is a link, there is nothing quite like it. Bill

Here is an up-date for my fade test that I began four weeks ago. If you look back in the blog it will explain. The best this test can do is try and show the comparison between two different ways you have to print your digital photos. The Fujifilm thermal photo paper is their dye-sub paper used in their quick print kiosks that are starting to appear mostly in stores other than photo labs. Some photo labs also use dye-sub printers with kiosks for a quick print. The only surprise for me was that there is a slight shift to magenta in the silver halide print which is our glossy paper. I am going to compare our gloss to matte next. The change in the thermal print started on day two and is very significant. If you would like to see the prints I have them in the store. If you do go back and read the earlier post please read the comment posted from a reader as the person makes a good point. Also I would like to read what you think about this topic if you would like to add something. P.S if the photo looks a little odd it was taken with a fish eye lens. Bill

Sigma 135 to 400 APO lens on an old Pentax IST D with no stabilization in the body or lens but a tripod still works fine. This eagle is quite far away and was last week so I am slow posting it. This lens has been discounted by Sigma as it is not their new digital model. This one will also work on a film camera as the len's designed for digital SLR's don't cover the area required to expose a complete 35mm negative.

The Nikon 18 to 200 VR lens is a very nice lens and as you may know very hard to find one to buy. I have one in stock and just had to take it home for a test run. This what I saw when I woke up and as you can see the deer got an earlier start on the day than I did.

Spring is here and also new camera models. With digital cameras there has become a pattern of new models every six months. Yesterday after what seemed a very long wait we received two new Panasonic cameras, the FZ8 and the TZ3. Both are very exciting as is opening a box and selling a camera before putting it on the shelf which happened twice yesterday. Don't worry I have more than one of each. The FZ8 is an update from the 12x zoom FZ7 and is a little better than the top of its class FZ7. It has been reviewed here by dpreview. The TZ3 is very different from the TZ1 with a bigger screen, 10x lens with a nice wide angle for travel, and will fit in a pocket. There has not been a review that I have found at this time. I think this will be our most popular small camera for the next six months or until something better comes along. BIll P.S Checked with my Pentax rep. yesterday and I would like to brag just a little, as I think I have sold more than most of the K10d. As of today I know [14] now 15 happy people enjoying this very fine Pentax SLR.