This is some thing I have wanted to try for a long time, a panorama photo of the view from our deck. Today with the river frozen and the long shadows it was and ideal time to try. I took 4 photos vertical with my Sigma Dp1 and stitched them together in a program called Autostitch. It was very easy to do and I will do more as the ice melts. Click on the photo to see it larger. The mark out on the ice is a hole I cut for the wildlife. And just a reminder the Sigma Dp1 is now priced at 650.00 Canadian. www.contactphotoarts.com Bill Wilby

Here is a photo that I have re-posted. I made this photo to promote my Sigma Dp1 sales in the Spring. It is soon to be a new year and with that some new prices. There will be price increases from some suppliers this year, something we are not used to in this industry. There is also some price decreases. The Dp1 was introduced and sold for a cost of 849.95 in the Spring of 2008. Now it is available for the cost of 650.00 Canadian dollars. This is about 530.00 U.S. We have added a products and price page to our web site to make it easier to find what cameras we have available for on-line sales. I have been very busy this Fall mailing the Panasonic G1 and the Panasonic 45-200 lens to customers from Alaska to California to New York and to Texas. I also sent a blue one to Ottawa in the east Fort Providence NT in the North and Langley in the west. These customers have contacted me by e-mail and phone. I hope our new page will make contacting us easier. There is still no shopping cart because it is important for me to maintain a personal contact with my customers.
In the Spring I sold many Dp1s across Canada but none to the U.S. I have discovered with selling the G1 this Fall it is very easy for me to sell to the U.S. I can drive to a U.S. post office in about 15 minutes. When I look out the window of my store I can see across the border between Canada and the United States. Our web site is www.contactphotoarts.com I also wanted to post this photo again that I titled DP1 still life, it reminds me of Christmas. I hope you have a happy new year. Bill Wilby

Just a quick update on how the logging show is going. While washing the dishes a few days ago, I have lost track of days, and looking out the window, the tree fell before my eyes. It has not taken long for the clean up, I can hear them chomping and dragging the timber during the night. I can see them too if the noon is out and I have thought of a flash photo, but that might end our friendship. They are working on another tree further up river, far enough away it should not effect my sleep. Bill P.S. the camera Sandra's Panasonic Fz 18

Just a few moments to have a little fun. Received more 4/3 adapters today for the Panasonic G1. My friend Henry has lent me his Olympus 50 mm macro lens to try. Here is a quick photo of my beaver friend Bob, to show how close it will manual focus. Auto focus will not work with this lens but the magnifier works very well. Bill

Update, I will have more 45-200 lenses and 4/3 adapters on Friday Dec, 5th as well as extra batteries for the G1.
Panasonic G1, there is certainly a lot of interest in this new camera and the change it represents with digital cameras. Because of having the stock I have been shipping cameras, lenses and 4/3 adapters. If you are one of the many people not able to find the right colour camera or the 45-200 lens, I have stock. To order from our store www.contactphotoarts.com please check our contact info on the site and send me an e-mail, or call. I ship across Canada and to the U.S. through a U.S. post office near by. Please note our store front is closed Mondays, I do check my e-mail and I do ship to the U.S. on Mondays. Bill Wilby

You may know about my friend Bob the beaver. I haven't seen him for awhile but I can hear him working at night. There has been more than one night lately that I can remember waking to the sound of a tree falling. We have an arrangement that works for both of us. He needs a winter supply of food and I am looking forward to a 180 degree view of the river. Look for that panorama view soon, just one more tree to fall. This photo taken with my Sigma Dp1 Bill

It is always fun to have something new before anyone else. This is the new 45-200 lens on the Panasonic G1. I won't have time to try this lens until I get more stock, it seems I can sell this new camera system just as fast I can get them. What is really exciting, this lens is 4 inches long and gives the same magnification as a 400 mm lens on a 35mm film camera, and it is stabilized too. I will post some photos tomorrow if the sun comes out and before I ship stock. Bill P.S. check out our site www.contactphotoarts.com for contact info.

The Panasonic G1's are now here, I am busy charging a battery and packaging the first ones to go out in the mail. I thought I was short shipped until I realized they are shipping two in a box to dealers. Just a reminder this is a small camera. How small, you really have to hold one in your hand to get the feel of how small it is. I have seen some very good comparisons on line for its size but until I held it in my hand, I really did not know. The next step of course is to use it and then see. It feels that I have missed a few weeks with the flu, but it has only been a few days, I am looking forward to using this camera and the new Pentax KM over this coming long weekend. That is if I have any left. Bill Wilby

The new Pentax Km has arrived. This is very exciting and I am looking forward to getting to know this camera. I took this photo very quickly just because I wanted to show it off today. I think size and weight will be some of the things people will take into consideration in deciding if they would this camera to their Pentax collection. I will write an article and do more comparing when I have more time. Bill

Today is a big day in my world, I was just able to order the new Panasonic G1 camera. I may have stock on Friday. There have been many new cameras announced this Fall, but not one that represents a new system the way the G1 does. Small with interchangeable lens this camera has received much attention. I can't wait to get my hands on one, and I am sure many of my customers feel the same way. I will publish my first impression in a article next week on our we-site. Bill note it comes in red and blue too For more info www.contactphotoarts.com

What a beautiful morning. This is my view while sipping my morning cup of coffee. With a morning such as this I can't help but think how lucky I am to be able to live in location with this incredible beauty. I do share this location with a couple of beavers though, and their idea of a beautifully tree may be different than mine. I have been awakened the last few nights with the sound of falling trees as the beavers are preparing for winter. Luckily I think there are enough trees for both me and the beavers to enjoy the beauty. This photo was taken with my Sigma SD14 and a 17 to 70 lens. BIll

Gate Fever is now posted, this is Nik Green's latest film shot with the Nikon D90. Please see earlier post for details. Here is the link to the film, and we do have stock of this exciting new SLR from Nikon. BIll

Choice & distance- a literary focus on photography by Leif Einarson, is a new article published on our web site. I have very much enjoyed reading this article for at least two reasons, first some of the ideas expressed by Leif have lodged themselves in my mind and surface often giving me a new perception of my photography. Secondly my vision of our site becoming a place for people to share their thoughts, wisdom and photographs contained in articles for mutual enjoyment has now become a reality. I hope Leif's article will not only nurture other people's creativity but will also inspire others to publish articles. If you would like to consider doing this yourself please read my article entitled " How to create and publish an article". Bill Wilby

Well the Nikon D90 is finally here. They came late to Canada this time around and there are many people who would like to get their hands on one. One person is Nik Green, film maker, pictured with me and my first D90 out of the box. Watch for a link on Saturday to Niks latest film which will be filmed with the D90. Here is a link to Nik's films on Filmak. One other note I have added a new article to our web-site explaining how we sell our cameras on-line. Here is the link to
"Do we sell cameras?" Thanks Bill

The new Pentax Km is shipping soon. This DSLR is aimed at the entry level market and will be the least expensive Pentax DSLR. When I look at the features this camera has I think it may have a much larger market. If I was planning to travel I would consider taking a KM because of it's compact size and how light it is. I think this camera may also be considered by current Pentax users as a second low cost body as a backup camera or a second body to hold another lens. If you follow the link to the Pentax site and study the features you will discover that this camera is not missing much except for the weight. I hope to have one in my hand soon and I will publish an article in our site www.contactphotoarts.com with my first impressions. I may also need to call my travel agent so I can write a field report. Bill

I still take a Sigma SD14 and a 120-400 os lens home every night hoping that I will get a new photo of my friend Bob the beaver. I have often spotted him swimming by but not in enough light to take a photograph. In the mean time I have been building my portfolio of deer portraits. For more information on this lens and the Sigma 150-500 please follow the link to our web-site and a article written by me regarding these lenses. www.contactphotoarts.com Bill

I am back from Montreal. I was there this week attending the Foto Source annual meeting and the Photo Marketing trade show. To sum up the experience, it wasn't what I saw that made this trip special but rather the people that I met. Pierre, Eric, Tammy and Oliver if you read this, thank you. Oliver is two and mostly speaks french. I hope he enjoys this photo taken from my room of the view. The Intercontinental in Montreal is very nice and it was nice of them to upgrade me to a executive suite. The photo was taken with my Sigma DP1. Bill

Nikon D90 is coming soon. If you have read my blog before you may know that I like to be the first with a new camera. The more exciting the camera the better. Because of our location and size of our store I have often found myself with a new camera days or weeks ahead of the rest of the world. I enjoy this position and it often results with a new customer in Montreal or Toronto or even Florida as with the last new camera the Panasonic FZ 28. We may have the Nikon D90 the week of September 22nd. Stay tuned for updates, Bill

September is here and that means many changes for most of us. As you can see it has been more than a week since I have made a post. I have been involved in our new web site www.contactphotoarts.com and I am very excited about what Max has been able to build for us. I hope to have more articles posted soon by ourselves and our customers. These two photos are going to be part of a article that I am writing about the new long zoom lenses by Sigma. They were taken this morning with my Sigma SD14 and a Sigma 120-400 OS. I have also recently sold two Sigma 150-500 os lenses and we have photos from them as well. Bill

This is our daughter Ann posing for me in front of the Bill Reid sculpture at the Vancouver International airport. She is now in France beginning her year of work and travel in Europe. This experience so far is proving to me again of how small this planet we all call home really is. The family Ann is living with in France we met last summer in our small store in our small town. But another example is us standing in line to check Ann's baggage and meeting people on their way back to France, who we had met last week in our store. And many thanks to them for the help given to Ann with her big bags and direction to her new home in France. Because of my site tracker I know I have readers from many parts of the world who find their way to my blog because of their interest in photography and sharing photos is another way to make our world smaller. With this experience I believe even more that this world is as big or as small as we would wish it to be.

The camera I took this photo was the Panasonic FZ18. Bill Wilby