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.

Laureesa. Photo © Jim Doty Jr

Although studio lights give you an amazing amount of control, you don’t have to have studio lights to do nice portraits. The right kind of natural light can work very well.

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Recently announced Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS lens

This week, Canon announced the new EF 70-200 mm f/4L IS USM lens. The expected release date is in November at a price somewhere around $1250 (USD). A lot of photographers, myself included, have been hoping and praying Canon would make this lens. The price should drop several months after its initial release and after the usual first rush of purchases.

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New Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D

This week Canon announced the new Digital Rebel XTi (400D in Europe). 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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RGB Color Channels. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

There are several ways to convert color images to black and white. One simple way that provides a lot of control is Chanel Mixer which is part of the recent versions of Adobe Photoshop. Read how in the full article at my web site.

If you read this blog regularly and think I’ve been doing a lot of portrait work lately, you are right. I will be back to landscapes this fall (I think).

Three of Ryan. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

If you do everything right during the shoot, it is pretty simple with digital photography to put one person in more than one location in the same photo, provided the light source remains constant. It didn’t take much longer to composite the above photo in the computer than it did to set up and shoot in the first place. Working on the tiny details of the photo took a lot longer than compositing three photos together.
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Ryan’s Yearbook Photo? Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

Ryan’s senior pictures will be even more unique than I had planned. We showed up at one of my pre-selected outdoor shooting locations, only to find these two dancers using the same location to shoot a video-tape for a national competition. (A good location is a good location.) They were doing the last few “takes” as we arrived. It would have been a shameful waste of good talent not to include them in some of Ryan’s pictures.

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Memorial Church, Stanford University. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Stanford University in Palo Alto California has a beautiful campus.

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The Merced River Below Half Dome, Yosemite National Park. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Half Dome and the Merced river from Sentinel Bridge is one of the classic photo locations in Yosemite Valley.

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