Cook’s Bay, Island of Moorea, French Polynesia. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

More Tahiti and Moorea photos have been posted at my ImageEvent site.

A Celebration in Music and Dance.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

I am regularly asked how I set up my digital cameras. This article in three parts is based on the Canon 10D, but most of it is applicable to other models and brands of cameras.

Part One: Menu Settings
Part Two: Custom Functions
Part Three: Camera Controls

Konica Minolta 7D Digital SLR

DP Review gave the Konica Minolta 7D a “Highly Recommended” rating, their highest. If you’ve been waiting for a digital SLR for your Minolta lenses, this may be the camera for you. Due to a recent firmware update, DP Review retested this camera and recently updated their review. You can read it here.

The big PMA (Photo Marketing Association) trade show starts today in Orlando. I was checking out the convention schedule and learned that Creedence Clearwater Revisited headlines the “Big Night” performance.

This will date me, but I grew up on Creedence Clearwater Revival (and a lot of other bands from that bygone era). So who is CC Revisited and are they any good?

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Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D)

If you are thinking about buying a Canon Digital Rebel (or any other camera, come to think of it), DON’T DO IT. Canon just announded the new Digital Rebel XT (350D). With a new 8 megapixel sensor and compatibility with the new EF-S lenses, this should be a very popular camera. It is that time of year and PMA, one of the biggest photo trade shows of the year, begins February 20. Manufacturer’s are announcing new cameras and lenses right and left.

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Epson Stylus Photo R1800 Printer

The latest Epson wide carriage printer produces true archival quality prints with 8 inks in large paper sizes. This printer could be another winner for Epson.

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“Heu”, photo copyright Giranthon

I was looking at some of the recent posts at PhotoSig.com and ran across the wonderful portrait above. The expression, the face, the details, the coat, the setting, and the light all come together to create this great photo. Who is this person? What does he do? What is he thinking? I would be proud to have taken this photo. You can see more of the photographer’s photos and a much larger version of this photo by going here.

Pentax *ist DS Digital SLR

At last, there is a fine digital SLR that will take almost every 35mm lens Pentax has ever made. If you have a stable of Pentax lenses and have been wanting to go digital, the Pentax *ist DS may be just the camera you have been waiting for.

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Yosemite Valley via web cam

No snow, poor light, very little sunshine, and not much to inspire an outdoor nature photographer, so I wandered the U.S. and the world via webcam.

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The Olympus Evolt (E-300) is an eight megapixel digital SLR in the 4/3 format with a distinctive optical viewfinder that eliminates the typical SLR viewfinder hump.

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Do yourself a favor and protect your computer from spyware. Spyware can collect information from your computer without your knowledge. Microsoft’s software can find and eliminate spyware from your computer.

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I was trying to determine some informtion about my my DVD drive , but Windows only gave me some generic information. I asked my son for help and he sent me to Everest Home edition. I downloaded the free software, ran it and it told me everything I needed to know plus a complete diagnostic report on my while system. More information and download.

An injured Acehnese girl, who lost her entire family when a tsunami hit the region last week, wipes her face as she takes a rest at a hospital in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia. (AP/Binsar Bakkara)

The recent tsunamis have created a disaster of staggering human proportions. It is a deeply tragic situation. In the midst of the sadness and suffering, you can make a difference. You can help by donating to the agency or organization of your choice.

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Soon after I was up and running with WordPress, my blog software, I wanted to change the look of the page. I found some helpful links to guide me in the process.

I found some information on CSS at Nuclear Moose.

I found the following VERY helpful tutorial on how to change the look of a WordPress blog .

I needed a good color chart and found a great one at Visibone.com.

If you want to make some simple changes to the look of your basic WordPress blog, the last two links should be especially helpful.

The Epson P-2000 may be the first truly practical and well-designed compact photo storage/viewer unit for photographer’s who want to download their memory cards on the go. As an added bonus, it supports movie and audio files.

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Christmas jigsaw puzzle. Help Santa come down the chimney.

Down Christmas Lane, a collection of “old fashioned” Christmas images.

Ski Island. Oklahoma. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

May the joys and blessings of this season be with you now and throughout the coming year!

Snow and ice has hit our part of the country. 207,000 people in our county are without power and over 300,000 state wide. Melissa’s surpervisor called this morning at 5:25 AM to tell her to stay home, the medical clinic would be closed due to the weather. That was a nice surprise so Melissa had an unexpected day at home. At 9 AM our children who live across town called to tell us their power is off.

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Every day people come to my primary website wanting to know which is the better camera, the Canon 20D or the Nikon D70. The answer for most people is that it really doesn’t matter. Let me explain why.

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My son Jared sent me this link to the Pictures of the Year. Take a look!

My son has been after me to take Omega-3 fish oil. The following article explains why. It is quoted verbatim from About.com.

“Fish Oil and the Heart, From Richard N. Fogoros, M.D., Dateline: April 15, 2002

“Three new studies add strongly to the growing evidence that consumption of fish and fish oil supplements can reduce death from heart disease.”

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I have been a big fan of Imagematics software for some time now. This will be a brief review since you can read the details about the products at the Imagematics website. My endorsement is very simple. It is my favorite software for taking still pictures and creating web ready “movies” and slide shows. Imagine the “Ken Burms” movie effect where the camera pans across the scene, but it is add done with still pictures. Or create photo albums online where the photos change like pages turning in a book.

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The recently announced Canon 1Ds Mark II is an extraordinary, 16+ megapixel camera with a 35mm sized imaging sensor. The January 2005 issue of POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY magazine calls it “the new benchmark for image quality in a portable SLR”.

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Rachel. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty. Jr.

My original photo blog is here. I will be copying some of the posts from that site to this one. These will be back dated to the time of posting on the original blog. In the meantime, feel free to browse the old site.

Welcome! This is the new location for my photo blog, launched December 9. I’ve copied a few older articles from my old photo blog. The primary emphasis will be photography with random reflections on other topics. My photo website is JimDoty.com.

Swimmer. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty. Jr.

The Canon 20D, the replacement for the 10D, is now available. If you have the 10D, should you upgrade? If you have Canon autofocus film cameras with EF lenses, is the 20D a good way to go digital? Is this a good time to get a 10D at a reduced price?

Read my comparison and suggestions here.

Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

Today I got back my photos from sorkeling in Moorea (an island 12 miles west of Tahiti). The snorkeling was fun. The photos were disappointing. In fact, there isn’t a single one that I want to scan and post here. There didn’t seem to be much point in posting a photo and saying “Those little yellow flecks are fish.” Maybe it wasn’t QUITE that bad, but close.

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