It is the time of year that I get asked a lot of questions from people who are  buying gifts for the photographers, or from photographers wanting to drop hints. (In this post, “photographer” means anyone who likes to take pictures.)  “What is the best book for . . . ?” “What are the best point and shoot cameras?”  “Is there any really good image editing software for less than $100?” Many of those questions are answered in the posts that follow. Happy Gift Giving.

Very short list:

Katrin Eismann and Wayne Palmer’s Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter).

If you know your way around Photoshop and are looking for an excellent book on retouching with Photoshop, this is it.

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Short List:

Christopher Grey, Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers

Jeff Smith, Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide

J. D. Wacker, Master Posing Guide for Portrait Photographers

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Short List (with sensor size in megapixels, and zoom lens range):

Canon PowerShot G7, 10 mp sensor, 6x zoom lens range
Canon Powershot S3 IS, 6 mp, 12x
Canon SD 700 IS Digital Elph/Ixus 800, 6 mp, 4x
Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd, 6.3 mp, 10.7x
Fujifilm FinePix F30, 6.3 mp, 3x
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, 10.1 mp, 12x
Sony CyberShot DSC-H5, 7.2 mp, 12x
Sony CyberShot DSC-H2, 6.2 mp, 12x
Sony CyberShot DSC-R1, 10.3 mp, 15x

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It’s that time of year. “What kind of camera, lens, software . . . . . do you recommend.” The questions come all year long, the pace just picks up a lot this time of year. This articles is based on several emails I have written in answer to questions I have received. Film and digital, P&S and SLR, my opinionated suggestions follow.

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Your photos will look their best if you optimize them with some good image editing software.

Short list:
Photoshop Elements 3, 4, or 5
Adobe Photoshop CS/CS2

For editing your photos, it is hard to beat Photoshop Elements and Photoshop, both from Adobe.

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Don’t lose your digital photos to disc rot or a hard drive crash. Choose the best archival options.

Short CD List:
MAM-A Gold Archive
Delkin eFilm Archival Gold
MAM-A Silver Archive
Verbatim DataLifePlus (with Super AZO dyes)
Taiyo Yuden

Short DVD List:
MAM-A Gold Archive
MAM-A Silver Archive

Short List of External Hard Drives:
Maxtor
Seagate

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Short List: SanDisk and Lexar

Memory cards are the “film” for your digital camera. You don’t want to have a card failure and lose your photos. A reliable brand is important.

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Short List: Arca-Swiss

The Arca-Swiss quick release system is arguably the best quick release system and certainly the most universal among professional photographers. The system is simple and you can start for less than $80 and use almost any tripod head you now own.

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Next to your camera and lens(es), a tripod is probably your most valuable photographic accessory. It makes all kinds of photography possible that can’t be done with a handheld camera.

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The Pentax K100D may be the camera you are looking for if you want to go digital with an entry level SLR and have Pentax KAF2, KAF, and KA mount lenses (K mount lenses work with limited funtionality).

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There are a lot of sites where photos are posted for critiques from other site members. Mike Johnston posted a deliciously satirical spoof of these sites at his blog, The Online Photographer. Enjoy!

Ash Cave, Hocking Hills, Ohio. Photography © Jim Doty Jr.

Ash Cave is in Hocking Hills State Park in southeastern Ohio. The horseshoe shaped “recess” cave is 700 feet wide, 100 feet deep from the front edge to the rear wall, and 90 feet high from the floor to the rim. Due to its huge size it has been used for large meetings including church services where ministers would preach from “pulpit rock”.

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Freedom from Want – Painting © Norman Rockwell

When I was growing up, we spent many a Thanksgiving and Christmas at grandpa’s house. Thanksgiving was a much anticipated and happy time. We would often leave Pueblo on Wednesday afternoon after dad got home from work. It was a long 7 hour drive to Haxtun in those pre-interstate highway days, so it would be really late by the time we arrived.

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New Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D

I wrote about the new Digital Rebel XTi (400D in Europe) when it was first announced. It is now available for purchase. It received a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating (the highest possible rating) from DP Review (see the links below). The XTi will have a 10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, a new EOS Integrated Cleaning System, and a larger and brighter 2.5” LCD and 9-point AF system. The maximum frame burst increases from 14 to 27 large JPEGs and from 5 to 10 RAW files. So how much better is this camera?

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Cut River Gorge from the Cut River Bridge. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The Cut River Bridge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a popular spot. On the day I was there, lots of tourists were lined up on the bridge to take photos.

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The Mackinac Bridge. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The Mackinac Bridge (pronounced mack-i-naw) between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas is a magnicificent sight. At five miles in length, it is one of the longest suspension bridges in North America. This photo was taken at deep dusk from the north side of the bridge.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm lens at 96mm. Shutter: 30 seconds. Aperture: f/8. ISO: 400.

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A full review of the Nikon D80 has just been posted at DP Review.

This is a great camera and Phil Askey gives it a much deserved HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating (his highest). If you have Nikon lenses and have been thinking about jumping into digital, this is a great way to do it. If you hve an older Nikon didital SLR, is is worth upgrading? That depends on which D-SLR you have and whether or not you consider the features and improved image quality worth the price. Read the review and weigh your options.

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The latest version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (beta 4) is now available as a
free download for MAC or Windows. This is fully functional (so far as a beta release goes) software that you can try out.

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Aspen, Marshall Pass, Colorado. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The hearts of landscape photographers are beating faster. Shutter fingers are getting itchy. Visions of gold and orange and red and crimson dance in their heads. Fall color is already arriving in various parts of the country, especially up north and at higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains. Reports this week indicate that some places in Colorado are already nearing peak color.

You can keep up with the changing colors. I just updated my page of links to fall color reports and locations. Head out with your camera and have some fun!

Photo by James Nachtwey for TIME magazine.

On this date, five years ago, we experienced a great national tragedy in the United States. Not only in the lives that were lost in the terrorist attacks, the families torn asunder, and the emergency responders who are suffering terrible health problems as a result of working at the scene – but also in the way we view ourselves and our world.

The photo essays linked below (in the September 9 post) are a reminder of what we all went through on that fateful day.

Bill Biggart’s final photograph. He was killed when the second World Trade tower collapsed on top of him. He was 53 years old.

You can read the story about Bill Biggart’s last images and see an album of his last photos at The Digital Journalist.

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Steve Irwin, his wife Terri, and a Joey

I was saddened to hear about the death of Steve Irwin who was stabbed in the heart by a sting-ray barb while filming off Australia’s coast. I liked his high energy, somewhat over the top style as he shared his love for crocodiles in particular and the wonders of the natural world in general. He will be missed.

My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Terri, their children, and the rest of the family.