Over the past several months, both Canon and Nikon introduced new entry-level Digital SLRs to their lineups. Both brands offer many new features, and better image quality. Boy, these cameras are sweet. Their light, portable, offer stunning image quality, and they are a huge step up from the previous version. It’s a Smackdown!

Round 1: Design

Both the Canon and the Nikon have wonderful design. The XSi features a huge 3 inch screen, while the D60 sports a 2.5 inch display. Being that the Canon uses Live View technology that allows you to see the image on the screen before you press the shutter button, I love the larger screen. Both the XSi, and the D60 feel almost natural to use. The buttons fall right where you would expect them to be, however, being a hardcore EOS 40D user for nearly a year now, I would love to see the addition of a “Quick Control Dial.” The D60 has the shutter button, preset modes, power switch, and command dial all at your index finger, allowing it to be almost identical to its 6.1 megapixel predecessor, the Nikon D40.

Winner: Both camera bring excellent design to the DSLR table. They both have many of the buttons placed on the right side of the unit, allowing your thumb and index fingers to do most of the controlling, without moving your left hand off the lens, making it feel almost natural to use. Canon’s XSi and Nikon’s D60 both get a 9 this round.

Round 2: Features

When comparing both brands to their predecessors, you are blown away with some of the new features. The XSi now features a 12 megapixel sensor, and Live View. The D60 is now equipped with 10.2 megapixels, and Nikon’s “Integrated Dust Reduction System” which presents several ways to rid the dust from the image sensor. Both cameras are a giant step up from their predecessor, however the Canon XSi simply has more features. The screen is absolutely breathtaking, and the shots don’t disappoint. 

Winner: Canon’s XSi has plenty of features that will last you for years to come, and are easy to access and use. Don’t get me wrong- The D60 is an excellent camera, it’s just it doesn’t bring enough punch to compete with the XSi. The D60 gets a 7 this round, and the XSi gets a perfect 10.

The XSi features a 12.2 megapixel sensor, and a DIGIC III image processor allowing for excellent images. The Nikon, on the otherhand, features a 10.2 megapixel sensor. Both cameras offer great image quality, that will last you for years to come. However, the Canon XSi seems to add a bit better color quality, and sharpness to each photo. The Nikon D60 gets a 8, while the XSi gets yet another 10.

Round 3: Performance

Both the Nikon and the Canon start up immediately after you flip the power switch, allowing for you to capture the shot you want, when you want. The autofocus is wonderful on both cameras, as well. The XSi is quick to autofocus on the subject, while on the D60, it seems you wait just a tad more for the camera to focus completely. The Nikon gets a 4, while the Canon gets a 5.

Round 4: Value

Boy - these cameras have value. They are both stuffed to the brim with features, compared to their predecessor, and will have enough power to supply you for years and years to come. The Canon XSi retails for $899 with a 18-55mm lens whereas the Nikon D60 retails $150 cheaper at a mere $750 with a 18-55mm lens. In my eyes, if you have the money, spend the extra money and get the XSi, which features a larger LCD, LiveView, greater megapixel count, and frames per second (FPS), just to name a few.

Winner:

The Canon XSi scored a 34, and the Nikon D60 came in with a 28.

Obviously, the Canon is a better built camera all around, and I’d recommend spending the extra $150 on a camera that packs a bunch more features. Don’t get me wrong- the D60 is an excellent step up from the D40, but it just seems Canon brought more to the table this time. XSi Wins!

This year marks the start for a new uprising of web services which focus around the concept of Cloud Computing, the ability to run high end and useful applications from the web using an ordinary internet browser. One such experiment is from Adobe Lab’s which is the web version of Photoshop aptly named Photoshop Express (BETA).

Photoshop Express (BETA) is a Flash powered website that allows you to perform the basic Photoshop operations on photos such as colour adjustment, cropping, red-eye removal, and special effects. To get started you simply create an account (currently you can only join by stating your country as the US), login and then upload your photos. Now this presents PSE’s first hurdle, redundancy of data. Now this is intended for quick touch ups and edits, just like it’s competition which is the mediocre applications that ship with digital cameras. The advantage with these applications is that any inexperienced user can plug in a camera and be instantly downloading and editing their photos. I found it annoying to have to use my browser to look for the photo I wanted to edit, it was just a step I felt I could do with out.

What I think Adobe may getting at sooner is extending this service into their AIR platform, allowing the AIR application to directly access the user’s hard-drive and pull all the photos they have on their hard-drive or memory card. This is something that could be a real winner for Adobe, allowing my grandma to visit our house and immediately show us her new photos without having to email a 50MB zip file.

But, Adobe also does allow me to import my photos from Facebook, Picasa or Photobucket so I can edit a headshot of me for later use. Something that if promoted would win over the Facebook crowd.

The first couple of features are pretty stock standard such as Red-Eye removal, Auto Correct and Exposure. One feature that really striked me as quite attractive was the Touchup feature, allowing me to select an area that may be blurred or scratched and replace it with a swatch from another area. It takes a little getting used to because you need to adjust the red circle (the area you wish to copy) before clicking the green circle (the area to replace) otherwise it may accidently take a swatch from the background or some random area.

With White Balance, PSE has some nifty presets for adjusting based on the lighting conditions at the time. Highlight adds extra light to a photo which, unless the photo was taken well, will result in just a washed out photo. Sharpen and Soft Focus perform exactly what their names imply.

Pop Colour is a nifty effect allowing you to select a specific colour and have it stand out, much like those photos you see with a greyscale photo encapsulating a coloured object, for some artistic users they may enjoy producing art basically on the fly. The Hue, Black & White, and Tint effects are what you’d expect from any photo application. Sketch transforms photos into something like it had been drawn while Distort allows you to bend photos creating “fish-eye” effects.

As you may of noticed that effects are pretty standard, but this is a powerful web application for quick edits and novice users. I am found myself using it when I need a quick crop, it saves me the wait of Photoshop to load or to have iPhoto want to first import it into its 6GB library.

Photoshop Express is a winner for anyone on the go wanting to edit that little blemish or produce a mug-shot in a snap, it especially appeals to those running Windows who right out the box want to edit a photo without loading some trialware enhanced application. I will certainly be using this a lot more in the future.

I’ve had the Canon 135 f/2L series lens in my possession for over two months now, and it has completely exceeded initial expectation - now sitting in the line as my favorite lens, ahead of the marvelous Canon 24-70 f/2.8L.

Sharp wide open at f/2, super fast autofocus, a beautiful smooth depth of field at low aperture settings, and a perfect focal length for long range landscape/short range sports are a few of the areas where this lens really shines.

One of the things I’ve been most pleased with other than the sharpness wide open is the superb autofocus performance. When the lens is switched to focus at 1.6 meters to infinity, focus locks in at a rapid pace, perfect for fast moving subjects in the distance. When set to 0.9 meters to infinity, the Canon 135L becomes a versatile lens allowing excellent macro and close up images to be taken.

The Canon 135L has made me fall in love with prime lenses all again, the same way the Canon 50 f/1.4 did. While the Canon 24-70L is an excellent zoom lens, it never took this kind of effect on me or my images. The 135L will be attached to my camera for some time to come.

It has been my goal for some time now to attend a wedding as the main photographer, a goal I completed over the weekend down in Christchurch, New Zealand - a two hour flight from home.

Overall I found the whole process rather relaxed. My flight arrived in Christchurch the afternoon before the wedding, and I popped into the chapel before heading to my accommodation for the night to check out the lighting, and scout locations for the formal shots.

The morning of the wedding was super relaxed, however I found myself running between two houses shooting the preparation shots from both the groom and the brides sides. I must have swapped lenses dozens of times in the two hour period of shooting preparation shots, though I found myself primarily shooting with the Canon EF 135 f/2L and the Canon EF 50 f/1.4 under the harsh lighting conditions. The primes kept me thinking about composition and created a very ’smooth’ depth of field when shot at low apertures.

The chapel where the ceremony was held was very small, I used the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L for shots of the wedding party arriving, along with the bride walking down the aisle. In saying this, the Canon EF 135 f/2L was a perfect focal length for most of the ceremony, and was attached the the camera for 90% of the time. I feel this could be a different story under different conditions (size of chapel/church), so a little extra focal length might come in handy in the future. One of the upsides of the 135L is its immense sharpness, so cropping is possible if more detail is needed to be pulled from images.

The most invaluable lens of the day was hands down the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L. The versatility when it came to shooting portraits was invaluable. I enjoyed the ability to go from full-body shots to head-shots within a twist of the zoom. The only other way to provide similar versatility would be to have two camera bodies, one with a wide angle lens and another with a medium length telephoto.

If I was shooting another wedding down the line in the future, there are a few extra tools I’d like to pick up.

Canon Speedlite Flash

I didn’t think I’d be needing to use flash anywhere near as much as I did. I thought with my two super-fast primes, I could make use of available light. Although true, I found I used the flash for over 75% of the portraits as fill light to eliminate shadows on faces.

A Canon 430EX purchase looms in the very near future.

Wider Prime Lens

I shot the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L at two focal lengths the entire day, 24 & 70. When shooting outdoor formals the lens was glued to the wide end - I found myself often wanting to shoot wider.

The Canon EF 14 f/2.8L looks very attractive for this use, bar the hefty price tag it carries. Of course the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L must be considered, but I could see myself using the lens glued to the 16mm end - hence the want for the prime.

Extra Camera Body

While a different camera body mightn’t have created better images, it’d have made it a whole lot easier to capture the ones I did. Shooting with an aging Canon 350D wasn’t the easiest thing to do, especially when trying to capture focus for candid portraits when the action was moving very quickly.

Ideally, I’d like something which has a more accurate AF system, better performance above ISO 400, and something with two card slots for redundancy. The last thing any wedding photographer wants is lost images.

Overall, I was extremely happy with the images I managed to capture with the gear I had with me - I’m very excited with the results from the day, and I’m looking forward to the next wedding, whenever & wherever that may be.

The Final Figures

1419 frames fired using one camera body, two Sandisk 4GB compact flash cards, three Canon lenses, and 11.19GB of hard-drive space.

1066 Images - Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L
250 Images - Canon EF 135 f/2L
103 Images - Canon EF 50 f/1.4

Last evening I arrived back in Auckland, New Zealand after spending twelve days in Australia on board the Pacific Star cruise liner, and three days in Sydney on the tail end. While holidaying has left me refreshed and energized, it also opened up many new photographic opportunities along the way - cruising was a perfect holiday to continue my photographic development, as new photo opportunities arose as each day presented itself. A new port meant new sights to see, and more importantly, more chance to make images.

The Tasman Sea At Dusk, On Board Pacific Star

I discovered an interest in many new areas of photography while away. Including candid, landscape, and architecture. While at home and seeing the same scenes each day I became accustomed to my surroundings, and my photography developed a very basic pattern to it. Visiting new locations really helped me open my eyes to other potential shots. I feel the getaway has been a huge help in terms of refreshing my photographic eye while opening up a different aspect I can put in-to action back in my home town.

Port Douglas Coastline, Queensland Australia

Get out with your camera, venture somewhere new. Book a flight to a remote location, head out for a week long road trip. Simply head away from your usual surroundings and discover what’s out there - when you arrive back home, your eyes will have opened to many new photographic opportunities which didn’t appear before your trip.

Now - where’s that 135mm prime lens. I’m off for a walk.

Long have I been a subscriber to the theory that those new to the digital single lens reflex arena should start their lens collection with one, relatively inexpensive piece of glass, the f/1.8 variation of the 50mm prime, in either a Canon or Nikon mount, depending on the users choice of camera brand.

As a Canon user there are two different relatively affordable variations of the standard 50mm prime lens. An f/1.8 and f/1.4 version. The f/1.8 variation is the lightest and the cheapest ($79 USD) of all three, it’s the perfect piece of glass to introduce an individual to primes lenses. I’ve owned this lens in the past and thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of inability to zoom. Owning the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 forced me to use my eye to its full creative ability.

Second in the line is the slightly heavier, and relatively more expensive ($329 USD) f/1.4 version of the 50mm lens. Advantages of this lens include a far more superior build quality, faster focusing, full time manual focus ability, and a larger aperture opening. I now own this Canon 50mm lens due to its advantages over its cheaper counterpart.

Also available is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM. This is the only 50mm prime lens in Canon’s line which features the “L” tag, as a luxury series lens. It features the most superior build quality of all Canon 50mm primes, and is one of two lenses in the Canon EF mount lineup which will open to f/1.2 (the other being the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 USM) - allowing in a significant amount of light.

Why Should I Invest In A 50mm Prime

I initially purchased the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 after hearing praise of the lens optical quality for its small price on photography forum Fred Miranda. Once in my hands, I discovered why.

The focal length of a 50mm prime is somewhat special, as it’s very accurate in terms of field of view to a human eye. Essentially, on a full frame body, what you see through your eye is what you get through the cameras viewfinder.

When limited to a single focal length, there’s only one possible field of view. This view rapidly sticks in your mind, until you know exactly what you’ll see through the viewfinder of your camera without having to life it to your eye. It’ll make you think about framing of images much more closely, and help you improve your eye for creating exceptional shots.

You’re made to think much more about the finder technical aspects of the image, such as aperture, ISO, shutter speed, and exposure. Changing the framing of your image will need to be done via your feet (foot zooming), giving you much more creative control over your image, rather than standing in one spot and either zooming in, or out.

While I believe that all photographers should have a general walk around zoom in their bag for general use, prime lenses will help you create better images, and help you develop your personal photographic style.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

| This image was captured using these settings: f/2.8 | 30mm | 1/3200th | ISO 100|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography.

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As many Canon fans are awaiting an announcement on an updated full frame EOS 5D Mark II, Canon have come out with an update to its entry level DSLR - the XSi (450D).

The camera features a twelve megapixel CMOS sensor, 3.0″ LCD monitor, Live View with both AF modes (contrast-detect and passive), 14-bit processing and RAW, spot metering, improved AF, 3.5 fps continuous shooting, a larger viewfinder, SD/SDHC storage and a new higher capacity battery.

12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor

Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System

3.5 frames per second

3.0″ LCD with Live View shooting

9-point wide-area AF system

DIGIC III image processor

Compact and Lightweight body

The step up in improvements from the 400D to the 450D is much larger than what progress was made in the previous installment when Canon replaced the 350D with the 400D. Live View is slowly making its way across the whole line, along with 14-bit RAW, and a 3.0″ LCD monitor. These are too expected in the next edition of the 5D.

As a body targeted at those moving up from point-and-shoot camera, the megapixel count is something un-educated buyers take into account. While 12.2 megapixels stuffed into such a small sensor might not be so forgiving on noise at ISO 800 and above, it does sound impressive for Canon’s most affordable DSLR.

The Canon XSi is expected to start retailing in March 08.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography.

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

| This image was captured using these settings: f/1.4 | 50mm | 1/2500th | ISO 100|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography.

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

The Night Of Fire

| This image was captured using these settings: f/5.6 | 55mm | 1/100th | ISO 800|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography.

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Warm/Shadows

| This image was captured using these settings: f/4.5 | 50mm | 1/4000th | ISO 400|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography.

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I just read the news of Canon’s latest two super telephoto lenses, the EF 200mm f/2L IS USM and the EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM. Both lenses will be shown off by Canon at PhotoPlus Expo from October 18 to 20.

I’ve been watching in the past few weeks as the old discontinued Canon EF 200 f/1.8 lens has been selling for upwards of $5000. The f/1.8 lens was discontinued due to a lack in popularity - it became uneconomical for Canon to continue producing it.

I have a feeling the new 200mm super telephoto from Canon will slightly kill the market for used f/1.8 versions. Expect to see a few put up for sale over the next few months, I’m expecting to see a steady price drop of the unit gradually falling to around the $3500 mark.

Not enough sales to keep the production running or may be it had to do with the by-products generated during the manufacturing since some of the elements contained lead (as in Pb, a heavy metal)?

Since it contained lead, the by-products (read: waste) will have to be contained and handled appropriately as it may harm the environment. Regardless, this lens has increased in value after it has been discontinued.

The 200mm f/2 IS looks the ticket for low light sports photographers, or event photographers who are constantly shooting in dimly lit halls like Duncan Davidson. It’s already playing in my mind if he’ll purchase this and have it take over the majority of his workload the 70-200 cops week in week out.

The pricing for the 200mm f/2 IS is currently speculated by POTN forum members at around $3500 USD - sitting just below the price of the 300mm f/2.8 IS. However we won’t know this officially for a while.

One thing we do know is this lens will be worth waiting for if it’s anything close in IQ to the f/1.8. Lustworthy is the way to put it.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Weave/Wave

| This image was captured using these settings: f/7.1 | 50mm | 1/125th | ISO 100|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography.

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

On another note regarding my Desktop Wallpapers, starting next week I will be offering two versions. The full 2560×1600, and a second version for the iPhone/iPod touch at 320×480.

Green Haven

| This image above was taken with the following settings: f/2.8 | 50mm | 1/500th | ISO 100|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Grass Straws

| This image above was taken with the following settings: f/5 | 160mm | 1/1250th | ISO 200|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

Although relatively inexpensive, I’ve heard good words about Canon’s consumer 50mm prime lens for a long, long time. I’d been meaning to pick up one for myself since I bought my 350D 18 months back, and finally did just that last week on impulse.

The lens I bought is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8. Widely known as the cheapest Canon prime lens with the best image quality. I also picked up the optional ES-62 lens hood as a precautionary measure for eliminating reflection and glare while shooting in wide open daylight.

Build Quality

One thing this lens isn’t well known for is a top notch build quality, in fact, this lens really lacks even a medium quality build. It uses a cheap looking plastic EF mount, and feels very flimsy. I wouldn’t want to drop the lens, even on a soft surface. It’s quite apparent the slightest knock will break the lens.

If you’re after something with a better quality build which an be knocked around a little more, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 might be what you’re after ($329 USD).

| This image above was taken with the following settings: f/2.8 | 1/100th | ISO 100|

Image Quality

Abeit the low quality build, the image quality and sharpness for such an inexpensive lens is remarkable.

Low light shooting really is a joy with the lens wide open at f/1.8. The possibilities of different shots using f/1.8 and an ISO of 1600 really open up so many potential frames you couldn’t capture on anything else.

In lower lighting conditions where I still have a little light to play with, I tend not to use the lens wide open, rather opting for slightly higher aperture value of 2.2 for added sharpness - and bumping the ISO speed by one notch to make up for the aperture difference.

I’ve found the lens to be sharpest when opened up past f/2.8, daylight performance at f/2.8 is a little disappointing, with a noticeable lack of sharpness around the focus point. Cranking the aperture up eliminates this, and the lens really starts to shine at f/3.2.

| This image shows the overall image with a 100% crop to show sharpness|

Conclusion

If there is one single lens you should pick up when you purchase your first DSLR, this is the one. Albeit the low quality build, the image quality for such an inexpensive lens is remarkable.

It makes shooting in low light much, much easier. I’ve also found shooting with a prime lens has opened up the bar for my creativity - I’ve started to think about composition so much more which results in better images.

For $80, you really can’t go wrong with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8. It really has me thinking about my future lens lineup, and the overall sharpness has me thinking about going with a lens lineup completely comprised with primes.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Architecture

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

City Living

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Dramatic Highlights

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

Image credit: POTN forum member Sootyvrs.

A contest which seems to be almost eternal is the photographers war on zoom vs. prime lenses. A few commonly asked questions are which is best, which should I use, which is the most affordable, and which will give me the best image quality? Sit tight and be prepared to pick a side, the war is just beginning.

Advantages of Zoom Lenses

Zoom lenses are the most common lenses on all camera types, both DSLR & Point and Shoot. How often do you see a simple Point and Shoot camera with a fixed focal length lens?

Zoom lenses are perfect for situations where you don’t have the time to keep changing lenses every half hour, or need the versatility to be shooting landscape one minute and wildlife high in the branches of trees 30 seconds later. In the aspect of versatility and function when you’re on the go, having a zoom lens will save you many headaches and many missed shots.

Advantages of Prime Lenses

In terms of image quality prime lenses win hands down. This is because prime lenses don’t have as many internal elements as zoom lenses, meaning image quality is much sharper and saturation much more balanced.

For a photography beginner prime lenses will force you to move in or move out to physically change the perspective of your subject. They will totally remove your mindset of “I’ll just zoom in to get closer” - they’ll make you use your feet to zoom and make you much more aware of the importance of good framing.

Prime lenses are also much sharper than their counterpart zooms at the same focal lengths, heavy cropping an image produced through a prime lens will give you a much better result than cropping an image from a zoom lens. They also tend to have faster aperture speeds and are lighter than their zoom counterparts.

Prime lenses are much less versatile than zooms, I wouldn’t be caught using them in a very important situation where image subjects are switching rapidly as shots will be missed. If you have the time to make images and are shooting for your own personal satisfaction, prime lenses are a perfect solution.

Conclusion

Personally, I would follow the philosophy of Duncan Davidson, Apple event photographer goes by. Zoom lenses for work when time is everything and prime lenses for personal work where you have time to spare and time to “make” shots.

Both lenses have their place for different types of shooting, jobs and people. I would recommend not kitting out your bag solely with either prime lenses nor zoom lenses. Consider having a couple of each in there and then further assess your needs after a few shooting assignments.

No matter what you currently have in your kit the main elements are always solid, take your time, discover how you shoot, and ‘make’ images instead of taking them.

Update: Darren Rowse also has an insightful article on zooms vs primes.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Towering Above

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

The Canon EOS 40D DSLR has now been official announced by Canon. As reported yesterday, the camera features a 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, large 3.0-inch LCD display with enhanced Live View, 6.5 frame-per-second continuous shooting capability, sRAW mode with a 35-zone metering system, and an integrated Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit.

I’ve been waiting for a camera like this for a long time, and like others, I’m very excited about Canon’s new successor to the EOS 30D.

Here’s Why

Although used sparingly until recently, I’ve found shooting at 3 frames per second on the 350D rather clunky and slow. It’s okay for portraits when I want to capture a few images to eliminate blinking, etc, but when shooting sports, 3-fps really doesn’t cut it. 6.5 frames per second is a much appreciated improvement over the 3-fps in the 350D, and the 5-fps in the 30D.

When spending a lot of time in the field I find myself reviewing shots on a constant basis to check focus, aperture, and exposure. The enhanced 3-inch LCD screen with LiveView appears perfectly suited to aid in checking shots while (and after) shooting an image.

The Canon 350D performs rather poorly when pumping the ISO speed to 800 and above, I find this very inconvenient when shooting with slower glass in low light situations - grain is very apparent with shots at ISO 800, I don’t even want to get into ISO 1600. With the new Digic III processor, I’m hoping for much cleaner shots when shooting with a raised ISO speed.

The final feature I’m excited for is Auto ISO. When entering this custom function you have the ability to choose a desired shutter speed, and the camera will automatically adjust your ISO speed on the fly to keep your desired shutter speed in tact while keeping exposure even. Very, very handy if you’re shooting an important event and want a constant shutter speed without worrying about the ISO speed.

When & Why

Priced at $1299, it’s expected to ship on September 20th. I will not be placing a pre-order as I have a habit for purchasing technology on impulse. Instead, I’ll be putting a little away each month and picking it up over New Year 08 (I hope). The Canon 40D is everything I want in a DSLR.

Last night Amazon let slip of specifications, details, and pricing on Canon’s upcoming successor to the 30D, the Canon 40D DSLR.

The Canon 40D is more of a revolution than an evolution to the previous model in the line. It packs in some pretty impressive features professional amateurs and professionals alike will thoroughly appreciate and make use of in the field or studio.

- 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor
- Large 3.0-inch LCD display with enhanced Live View
- 6.5 frame-per-second continuous shooting capability
- sRAW mode; 35-zone metering system
- Integrated Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit

Priced at $1299, it’s expected to ship on September 20th.

I’m very keen to test out this camera and hoping to have one in my hands sometime next year. I’ve also recorded a video showcasing my thoughts on todays episode of The Glenn Wolsey Show.

What about you? Does the new 40D excite you?

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Silhouette

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Graffiti

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here. Want more? Check out the archives.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Schwood

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Towering Trees

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Fence Line

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography. If you have suggestions for Desktop Friday, feel free to shoot me an email. Have a great weekend!

Download this weeks desktop wallpaper here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Standout Leaves

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Vapour

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Wood Shed

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Peeling Paint

Continue Reading »

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Trip To Christchurch #2

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

This weeks wallpaper is dedicated to “Podstitch” who requested this image from my Flickr be turned into a desktop background. here you are Podstitch, enjoy!

Sweeping Grass

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Black And White Lake

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Sorry I’m late once again with this week’s desktop picture. Some may find this desktop a little too cluttered to use. Hopefully someone will enjoy it.

Auckland City

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

City Building

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Black Silhouette

Continue Reading »

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

This weeks wallpaper was taken a few minutes walking distance from my house. Camera settings were “AV” mode with the Aperture set to 3.5, and manual focus was used.

Wavy Strands Of Wheat

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

This weeks wallpaper was taken a few months ago while I was on a short break staying with relatives in Auckland, New Zealand. The image was taken before I caught a flight home, around 5 minutes from the Air New Zealand domestic terminal.

New Zealand Flag

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

This weeks wallpaper was taken about 5 minutes from my house, shot through the fence to a neighbors property. I got down low to capture the grass in the foreground and have the sheep hidden behind it.

Sheep In The Tall Grass

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Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all of you readers to have a change of scene, and get a different perspective of life through your LCD monitor. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all of you readers to have a change of scene, and get a different perspective of life through your LCD monitor. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all of you readers to have a change of scene, and get a different perspective of life through your LCD monitor. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all of you readers to have a change of scene, and get a different perspective of life through your LCD monitor. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. If you’re not lucky enough to own a 30″ Cinema Display, use the “Stretch to fill screen” option in Mac OSX.

Today’s desktop caption is: Purple

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy.

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all of you readers to have a change of scene, and get a different perspective of life through your LCD monitor. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop caption is: Vivid Grass

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all of you readers to have a change of scene, and get a different perspective of life through your LCD monitor. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop caption is: Flax Bushes. I have had so many Flickr, blog, and email requests for this wallpaper in the past I decided it was time to release the wallpaper that resides on my Mac 99% of the time.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Here is the January 2007 edition of my photography shooting stats. I shot a lot of cricket for the first time this month, which makes up the high number of shots I didn’t keep and therefore deleted.

Images Taken: 1,312
Images Kept: 465
HD Space Used: 3.78GB
Average Shots Kept Daily: 15

Shots With 18-55 Lens: 223
Shots With 75-300 Lens: 242
Shots With Other Cams: 0

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop caption is: Sloping Hill

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the readers out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop caption is: New Zealand Fern

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac and PC users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop caption is: Foreground Fence

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Flickr in inhabited with thousands of superb photographers, Jon “JD” Dysangco is one of them. I recently had some time to sit down an interview him about all aspects of photography.

Check out his Flickr photostream here.

Are you in favor of RAW or JPEG?

I used to shoot in JPEG up until about 2 months ago after learning about the flexibilities of RAW. I now shoot exclusively in it (I need to get a bigger external HD!). RAW format can be a real shot saver, allowing you to adjust WB, exposure, etc (in a sense, it can make you a better photographer).

I use DPP to PP and convert to JPEG, lately I have been using Photoshop CS3 Beta to experiment with and tweak my shots.

What does your photography kit look like?

My current kit is made up from the following:

30D + Battery Grip
24-105 f/4L IS
70-200 f/2.8L IS
70-200 f/4L (this is being sold soon)
50 f/1.8 mk II aka “Nifty Fifty”
Speedlite 430EX
Sto-Fen Omni Bounce EW
Sandisk Extreme III 1GB CF
Sandisk Extreme II 1GB CF
Rocket Blower
Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home bag

Why did you choose Canon over Nikon?

When I decided to get a DSLR, it was a toss up between the Canon 350D and the Nikon D50 - I decided to go for the 350D.  At the time this was down to the better reviews I read.  Today, I am glad I chose Canon because of the quality of their hardware.

What forms of photography do you find most enjoyable?

As you can seen from my Flickr photostream, my photographic style is very eclectic. If I like the look of a certain subject, I shoot it.  However over the past few weeks I have really started to enjoy portraiture (both taking and editing). I would love to try out studio portrait photography.  Another favorite of mine is street/candid shots because of the stories they can tell.

You have many HDR images on Flickr, run us through the process of creating these.

HDR can be quite tricky.  At one end of the spectrum an HDR image can look true to the eye, at the other, it can look like a painting or CGI.  People either love or hate both ends. I try to fall in the middle in this spectrum. 

In terms of producing them, if I want a shot to be HDR at the time of shooting I will take 3 exposures.  You can create one using a single RAW, but I have noticed that you do get the best affect from 3 exposures. If I want create one from a subject that is moving, i’ll shoot a single RAW.

I use Photomatix Pro to create the HDR, then Noise Ninja to reduce the grain, if any.

What about making money from your hobby, have you ever sold any images?

I would love to sell my images! Who wouldn’t? :) I have not made any real steps to do so just yet, soon I may do.

Does Wedding photography interest you?

As I said, I enjoy shooting people, so wedding photography would be a nice progression for me. In fact I have 2 lined up this year, one in the summer for a friend’s brother and one at the end of the year for my cousin in Australia. I am really looking forward to these, but at the same time rather nervous and anxious. 

Wedding photography is difficult, you need to know your kit inside out, as well as lighting. Its not just that however, depending on your style, its about people management.

At the end of the day, a wedding photographer is expected to capture once in a lifetime (for most at least!) moments, for the bride and groom to keep and treasure for the rest of their lives…so the thought of that is very daunting to an inexperienced photographer.

What resources do you use to further increase your knowledge of photography?

I have read a highly acclaimed book by photographers called Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson, this will teach one the fundamentals of photography, I highly recommend it.

I am also a member of Photography-On-The-Net (Canon Digital Photography Forums), this place is great and is a huge source of info for both novice and pro. The members there are very friendly too. (Glenn: I’m a member there too).

And the internet of course…Google is my friend!

Why do you like photography? What aspects keep you coming back for more?

There are lots of reasons why I like photography, from taking the shots, to owning the gear, to post production, to showing off the results.  

Since taking this up I look at so many ordinary things around me in a different way.  It has really opened up my mind in a creative way.

I also enjoy it as I have been to many places that I never did before, purely to shoot and enjoy the sights.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop caption is: Daisies

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

I thought I’d post my photography shooting stats each month so I can keep a tab on how my photography is coming along. A few of you who have asked for more personal and “statty” posts should enjoy this too.

Images Taken: 1,685
Images Kept: 966
HD Space Used: 5.57GB
Average Shots Kept Daily: 31

Shots With 18-55 Lens: 856
Shots With 75-300 Lens: 101
Shots With Other Cams: 9

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop caption is: Lake Pillar.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

I’ve been asked numerous times by email as to what my photography workflow is. I thought I’d start with my “In The Field” workflow. Workflow will change on a person to person basis, so what I’m doing might not be the best solution in your case, but for what I do it works very well.

Step One: Take Images

My first step in the field is to complete my photo-shoot with my Canon EOS 350D, equip with two lenses, the Canon 17-55 1:3-5.5 and Canon EF 75-300 1:4-5.6 III - saving images onto my 2GB compact flash card.

Step Two: Empty Card

When the shoot is finished, I connect my CF card to my USB card reader (I need a new firewire card reader) - and I wait for the images to import into Aperture.

Step Three: Apply Metadata

When the images have been pulled into Aperture, I go through them and apply metadata. I fill the following fields at this stage: credit, copyright, and keywords.

Step Four: Rate Images

The next step in my workflow is to sift through my images as quickly as I can, rating them on the fly. Images with 5 starts are absolute favorites, only around 5% of my images make this status. Images with 4 starts are very creative and entertaining images, and 3 star images are photos I like and wouldn’t be ashamed to show people. I rarely apply 1 or 2 stars to my images.

Step Five: Export & Import

When I get back home to my studio machine, I export the project/s off my MacBook, then import the project to Aperture on my main desktop. This will keep all the ratings and meta-data in-tact and leaves me with one final step, to edit the images, and send them on their journey.

I’m very curious to see how you work with images when in the field so I can improve my ever changing workflow. So feel free to chip in below and leave me a note.

Hey guys! I’m back home now, this a little extra baggage. That baggage would be a large trophy. We won the tournament!

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop theme is: Darkness.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop theme is: Fence.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop theme is: Green Leaves.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there. The image is taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop theme is: Pale Leaves.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

Each and every Friday I’m going to be posting a desktop wallpaper for all the Mac users out there that I have taken using my Canon 350D DSLR. Photography really interests me and this gives me a nice way to showcase some work, while giving readers something for nothing.

The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion of 2560×1600 pixels, big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out. No watermark has been applied to the image either, so play nice, I’m trust worthy that no one will steal my work.

Today’s desktop theme is: Grass.

Feel free to leave any comments about this wallpaper below, it’d be nice to get a comment or two from people who decide to use it, have a great weekend, and enjoy!

Download it here.

As many of you know from this post, I’ve taken the plunge on a Canon 350D DSLR recently. After I’d been taking shots for the first couple of days iPhoto just didn’t seem to cut it for editing photos anymore. I had moved up from the consumer Sony CyberShot to a professional Canon DSLR, so why not the software too?

I promptly downloaded the Aperture 30 day free trial, installed it, and moved my iPhoto library over (which I must ad was very simple and swift, thumbs up Apple!)

What do I like about Aperture that iPhoto doesn’t offer?

• Versioning

I love the ability to create as many versions of any image without effecting the original image.

• Stacks

Now I have the DSLR I can take up to 3 frames per second, stacks are a great way to manage these images taken in rapid succession.

• Advanced Editing Tools

I love the ability to edit RAW images with super attention to fine details, Aperture allows me to edit images 50 times more powerfully that iPhoto.

• Edge Sharpening

Ah, this falls under the advanced editing tools, but edge sharpening is a life saving tools. What I have images of the sky I dont want the whole thing sharpened, just the foreground, otherwise the image looks grainy.

Aperture 1.5 is avaliable for a free 30 day trial here. IF you like it and decide to purchase, you will be able to download the 1.5.1 update which includes many enhanced features on common tools such as the loupe, plus a slightly enhanced application speed.

Regarding performance? I’m running an iMac 17″ Intel Core Duo 1.83Ghz with 1.5GB of RAM, and Aperture runs super smooth.

Overall, I’m very happy with Aperture, expect a more in-depth review, and lots of posts with Aperture tips. Maybe even a little series of video podcasts in the future, along with a review of the Canon EOS 350D.

What do you use to manage your digital images, and why do you like it?

That’s right, if you couldn’t tell from the title I’ve finally taken the plunge on a DSLR after all of your advice and help. What did I chose? The Canon EOS 350D.

So far I’ve taken around 100 test shots, the DSLR gives me immensive control over what I’m shooting. I’ve already done some comparisons to my Sony P&S and it wasn’t even worth my time, the 350D blew the Sony away in image quality.

Current kit: Canon EOS 350D Body, 18-55 Kit Lens.
Coming Soon: 2GB CF Card, 50mm 1.8 Lens, 75-300 Lens.

Keep an eye on my Flickr account for photos!

Technorati Tags: camera, photography

Update: I’ve taken the plunge on the 350D. To check out some sample images, check out the posts filed under photography.

As many of you know, I’m currently saving for my first digital SLR. I’m not sure when I’ll be purchasing it, but the advice I get from this post might determine how much longer it will take me to save. My question is, 350D or 400D?