Summer time and the living is easy. Last night I was standing by the river bank testing out a new Sigma 24 to 70 lens on my SD14 and a neighbour paddled by. This lens is an older model 24-70 DG DF but is an EX lens and a pleasure to use in the fading evening light. That was some Sigma talk for a great lens at a good price. I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am enjoying mine. Bill

Another photo from the new Pentax 17 to 70 F4 SDM. This is my daughter Laura's friend Mandy. Summer time in Grand Forks means cooling off in the river. Laura is still testing this our first lens but we will have more stock tomorrow. I have put together a comparison with a Pentax 16 o 45 and a Sigma 17 to 70. This will soon be on our new web site which will feature articles written by ourselves and our customers. The site is taking awhile because it is custom built. It is an original idea that I have not seen done in the way we are building it. As for the new lens by Pentax, I have ordered several as I think it is very good value and will be a good alternative to a kit lens. Our price 629.95 cdn. Bill

I am still testing and enjoying using the new Pentax 17-70 F4 SDM lens that I have had for the last week. I have done a comparison with the Pentax 16 to 45 and a Sigma 17 to 70. We are still working on our new site to display them. This is a photo of the river this morning and a wasp outside of our store. I was exploring the lens "Bokeh" when the wasp showed up. Bill

There a lot of interest in the new Pentax 17 -70 DA SDM lens. Because of the photo posted below we have had many new people visit this Blog. We are currently building a new interactive web site with articles from our customers as well as our own articles, and one of the first articles will be about this lens because of this interest. In the mean time here are two photos taken at 17 mm and 70 mm, F4. Doing a test like this is not easy and this is only a start. I used an old copy stand and tried to make it level. The distance from the back of the camera is 15 in. or 39 cm. In reviewing these photos I see that the target is not set quite square. This test is meant to give you a indication of distortion and not sharpness. Bill Wilby

This wedding photo was taken by my daughter Laura yesterday. This is with the new Pentax 17 to 70 lens that we have just received. Laura may be the first to photograph a wedding with this lens and I think I may be the first to post photos with this lens as I have not seen any other. My other post are of a boring brick wall near our store posted on the dpreview Pentax forum. As with any new product there is a lot of world wide interest and I find it interesting even with a small store like ours it is possible to be the first. Congratulations Mairen and Andrew and thank you. Here is a link to http://www.laurawilby.com/ Bill

It has been awhile since the last post. Last night we drove over Hardy mountain and spotted these marmots beside the road. This again is the Sigma 120-400 os lens at 1/25 of a sec. 400 mm 5.6 I was sitting in the car but these are hand held. By the number of hits to this blog regarding this lens that I have seen from all over the world it is becoming very popular. I think every one should have one but that may be just the sales man in me talking. Bill

The evenings have been very pleasant with the warm weather. Here is a photo by Laura of Oliver enjoying the last sun of the day. Laura is now using Sigma cameras for her wedding photography. I can't wait to see the results from this weekend weddings. Bill

Sitting on the deck and watching the sun go down last night and what a show. Missed getting a photo of the lighting, but the sky was very colour full and inspiring. Sigma SD14 and 18 to 200 lens. Saturday morning a beaver swam by in a hurry looked too small to be Bob. I haven't seen a beaver for a month so that was also a little exciting. Bill The wine, northern Italy

My daughter Laura and I went for a walk last night hoping to see some fawns. We didn't find a fawn to photograph but I discovered the other end of my Sigma 120-400 os lens. This is at 120mm and I thought it looked good in B+W. I have started to carry a monopod as well. Bill

We have a new family of birds that have just moved into our upper deck. Jill has been keeping her eye on them. The Sigma 120-400 OS focuses very close, and hand held because of the optical stabilization and sometimes there just isn't enough time for a tripod. I think I will take a mono pod home to add to the collection of photo equipment. We also have new fawns but have not been able to get a good photo yet. Stay tuned. Bill

Because of the rain and wet weather I have not had many opportunities to use my new Sigma 120-400 OS lens. This was a photo I took last night. I have thought of trying to do deer portraits with this lens. There may be more to come. BIll

Our daughter Ann's graduation from high school was this past weekend. Here is a photo of her and her school friends. Her mother and I and family are all very happy for her and her accomplishments. I just thought some of you may want to see how wonderful she looked on the day of grad. These colours are captured with my Sigma SD14. Bill

One more taken with the Sigma 120-400 os and my Sigma SD14. Bill

Yesterday morning leaving for work I was surprised to see Mr. Coyote on the other side of the river. Note this is a non Sigma photo, we do take a Panasonic FZ18 home most nights for a point and shoot with a 18x zoom. I have learned living on the river you never know what you may see and having a camera near by is a good thing. Bill

Here is a photo with my Sigma Dp1. It was taken the other night while my mother and I were enjoying our glass of wine and watching the sun set over the river. Bill

I know it has been a long time from the last post and many of you have been checking back waiting for a update on the river. The river has been down since we have been back but I don't think we have seen the peak yet. The weather has turned warm again and it may rise. As well one of the reasons I update my blog is for my mother to see as she lives on Vancouver Island, actually not on the island but on another island close by. She is visiting right now and we have been sitting together with a glass of wine watching the river so there isn't the same need to post. Other excitement is today receiving the new Sigma 120-400 os lens today and this photo, I posted on the Sigma forum at DPreview. I think I was the first to post a photo taken with this lens on this forum but I am really not that kind of a competitive person. I do hope to sell many of these lenses though, because from what I have seen so far they are very good. I think it is time for another glass of wine. Bill

I am going to have to tear myself away from the river for four days. We are leaving tonight to attend Laura's university graduation. I can't think of a better reason. The river is still aways from a peak and I will update as soon as I return. This morning it broke through the channel on the other side and turned very brown. There has been some very large trees going by as well. Bill

Another update, this one taken from a lower level this morning. The river still can rise another meter or two and that can get really exciting. I am enjoying the wide angle view from the Sigma DP1 as it captures more of the sky. It nice when there is a cloud or two around when you need them. Bill

River update, after yesterdays 29 c the water is coming up. Today's forecast is for above 30. This photo is taken from our bedroom balcony with a 28 mm wide angle view so it does make it appear further away than it really is. The camera is of course my Sigma DP1. Bill

With this post I hope to begin this years river watch. The weather has been cool this year and the river slow to rise. I enjoy the river the most this time of the year, being close to all that power is very exciting. I plan on posting updates often but we will be away next week , Monday to Thursday. Also my mother is coming to visit next week so she can share in the excitement. I do understand some people may consider me not completely sane when I get excited by huge trees zooming by. Bill

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