About

About Me

This is an interesting rendition of me that was done by a friend. I am an Episcopal Priest, living in the State of Connecticut. I needed to retire from the active ministry several years ago for health reasons. Fortunately, my health has improved so I now have the energy to undertake projects like this blog.

Photography is an old love of mine. My father started me in taking pictures and he taught me the essentials and how to process film. Today's photography is mostly digital. It is amazing what one can do with a good digital Camera!

I have three digital cameras that I commonly use. I almost always have a Canon SD1000 Digital Elph camera with me. It fits into my purse nicely in the cell phone pouch. It takes 7.1 Megapixel digital JPEG photos. It is an all in one multipurpose camera.

I also have a Canon Rebel XS/1000D camera. It is a 10.1 Megapixel Digital SLR camera. I have various lenses that fit on the camera. I often have a Canon EF 28-135 mm IS lens on it. It is quite versatile but now has become my least used camera.  Possibly I will sell it or give it away to one of my sons.

My second Camera is a Canon Rebel T1i/500D, 15 Megapixel Digital SLR camera. This is a very nice camera. I often use my Canon EF 70-200 mm lens on this. I also have several other lenses, a Tokina wide angle lens, two Tamron telephoto lenses and a Canon ES 18-55 mm IS lens. All my Canon DSLR cameras shoot RAW as well a JPEG and the T1i shoots videos as well.

Meet my new Number 1 camera.  I just bought a Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera.  This is the top of the Rebel line and Canon's latest Rebel camera.  It shoots 18 megapixel Raw pictures and HD video, though I don't plan on doing much video with it.  Often things get used in unplanned ways!  This is a very nice camera and works with all of my existing lenses. It has become my Number 1 camera and is a real workhorse.

This now leaves me with a dilemma about what to do with the Rebel XS.  I am thinking of offering it for sale on ebay.  It is a nice camera, but I only need two camera bodies.

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 to edit my photos. I have several other programs I use including Irfanview (a free program I use to crop and re-size) and Picasa which is free from Google. Picassa is a bit redundant with Adobe, but it is free and i can use it on any computer.  I have been editing recently with Corel PhotoShop Photo Pro X3.  It is quite powrful and does a very nice job at certain tasks.  I am hoping to be able to afford Adobe Photoshop CS5.  It is expensive, but it is so powerful!  One can always aim high.

Update!  I was able to buy Adobe Photoshop CS5  about a month ago.  I have been integrating its use into my work.  It is extremely powerful and there is a steep learning curve.  I am driven to learn it's use and I hope the new photos show some improvement.  I have also bought some additional essentials like a Manfroto Tripod and some professional flash units.  I also had to break down and buy some good bags to carry all this equipment.  I have become very fond of the Tenba bags.  This may sound strange but I bought some new shoulder straps from BlackRapid.  It may sound like a strange purchase, but it makes such a difference in comfort and ease of shooting.  One of the most useful purchases has been a Hufa lens clip.  This device clips to the camera strap and holds the lens cap while shooting.  I have two of those, one of them I won (thanks Photo Sister.) I have included some links.  I don't get anything for mentioning these products of from including the links, I just like the products or sites!

I also bought a new purse camera, the Canon Powershot S90 ).  This is a very nice camera.  It is small enough to carry in my purse and is quite powerful.  It shoots 10.1 Megapixel Raw and is fully adjustable.  Automatic is nice at times, but the ability to adjust and customize is essential.It has replaced the SD1000 I used to carry in my purse..

New!!!  I just bought a New Canon Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera..  This is a moderately high end Canon Camera.  It will become my number 1 camera.  This is my first truly professional camera.  It is so new that I am still exploring how to use it to the best advantage.  My other Canon Cameras were Digital Rebels and they all had many operational features in  common.  Certainly they had differences in features but operationally were similar.  The Canon 7D is quite different operationally and has great features.  It shoots at 18 megapixel and that is the same at my Canon Rebel T2i.  So those Cameras will be my two go-to cameras for most things.

Additionally, I have acquired Adobe Lightroom 3.  I still have not figured out it's use fully,but I am hoping that it will help me process pictures faster and easier.

Let me just say at this point that all this equipment and software represents a fairly large investment on my part.  I certainly use the equipment for more than the production of this blog, but it has been instrumental in creating and maintaining it.  I hope you are enjoying the photography.

Update!!! 

I am now using Adobe Lightroom 4 and I have bought a new Camera a Canon 5D Mark II which is a Full Frame Camera with 21 M pixels (for those technically minded.)  This is my first Full frame camera and I expect there will be some wonderful pictures from it.  I also bought a new Nissin Di866 Mark II flash unit and two Canon Lenses, a 85mm f/1.8 EF USM Autofocus and 24-105mm f/4L IS EF USM Autofocus.
Editing is a bit of a challenge because my Desktop system is hanging on boot.  My work is cut out for me!
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If you are interested at all in a used but well cared-for camera I am selling my Canon XS with Ef 18-55 Lens and the Canon T1i Camera (Body only).  I also have a Tamron 28-200 mm Canon mount Lens for sale. I will also sell the Canon Digital elph SD1000.  All of this equipment has served me well and is extremely well cared for.  Along with the cameras there are some extras like battery grips and extra batteries.