Still Learning Our Camera

Well, it's been about 10 days since getting our camera and I have been trying to absorb as much about photography and digital cameras, especially our, since our T1i arrived. And just when I thought I read and learned enough to start photographing the things I want to shoot, I find some video on YouTube, or a blog, or some other website with a bunch more information I never knew about.

Some videos I have been watching are from Bryan Peterson (YouTube - ppsop2009's Channel) , Rick Sammons (http://www.youtube.com/user/pixelmagic), CameraLabs.com (http://www.youtube.com/user/cameralabs) and PhotoClassPro (http://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoClassPro). These so far have been the most informative YouTube videos. If you are new to photography, or just looking for different techniques, I would suggest looking into these videos.

As far as websites go, my bookmark list has grown exponentially just in the last two weeks. So you can see where I've been, here are a list of some of the websites. Feel free to check them out!
Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider Blog 
Stare Photography School Online
DSLR Tips: 
Digital Photography Tips
PhotoTips.biz
The Perfect Picture School of Photography
Not Your Normal School of Photography
The Photo Forum
Photography Forums
Digital Photography Review
Canon Digital Photography Forums

As you can see, I have probably let myself get consumed with this subject, which can be good or bad. It's good because I can possibly turn this hobby into a source of income in the future, and it will make me and Ashley better photog's. It's bad because I have spent a lot of (maybe too much) time online or in books reading instead of paying more attention to my wife and kids. Hopefully to former will pay off and support the latter. In other words, I hope we can in fact make at least a part time "business" out of photography and help pay for activities and vacations with the family.

On a side note, we have all been sick, so we haven't been in the mood or able to go take more pictures lately, but we are all finally getting over our illnesses and will hopefully be out shooting soon. 

So, until the next post, God Bless, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'! I hope my posts can be an inspiration to all who read them.


John, "Pop"

Some cropping in Photoshop Camera Raw

Here is a picture Ashley took tonight of the barn, at dusk. The snow was falling and she was trying to capture that. The other 2 are the same picture cropped and made black and white and sepia tone, both with vignetting. Enjoy!

So, until the next post, God Bless, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'! I hope my posts can be an inspiration to all who read them.


John, "Pop"

More shots with the new camera!

Here are some more pictures from the new camera. These were croped and adjusted using Adobe Photoshop and the Camera Raw plug-in.

So, until the next post, God Bless, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'! I hope my posts can be an inspiration to all who read them.


John, "Pop"

Camera Arrived Today!

Today was a happy day! UPS came knocking on our door this morning with gifts. Our camera, printer and other equipment got here and man are we excited. We just spent about 2-4 hours reading the manual and trying things out on our new Canon EOS Rebel T1i dSLR. Since all Ash and I have ever really had for a camera were point-and-shoot cameras, this is deffinately the best we've ever had. We can't get over how sharp the pictures are with just basic settings and not really fine tuning anything. It's taking some getting used to the use of a view finder instead of just an LCD screen, or not having the option of a view finder I should say. We haven't tried much with the live view yet, but I'm sure that will come soon enough.

Well, here a couple of our first shots! We took over 60 in about a 30 minute period!

So, until the next post, God Bless, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'! I hope my posts can be an inspiration to all who read them.


John, "Pop"

New Camera Equipment Purchase!

This weekend, Ashley and I finally had the opportunity to buy a "real" digital camera. I think we've spent at least 3-6 months searching for the camera that would best fit us, and I have to say, it's almost like buying a new car if you aren't sure of what's out there.

What we decided on was a Canon EOS Rebel T1i DSLR kit. We had suggestions from friends and other people who do photography for either a living or just a hobby, and most of them came back for either a Nikon or a Canon. Some suggestions were for the more pricey cameras the pro's use, others were more in our price range. At first we had decided on the Canon XSi, but after further consideration went with the T1i instead. We really wanted a camera that would be great for getting pic's of the kids and family events, some sports and auto racing, railroad pictures and other shots that just cannot be done well with a point-and-shoot. We are done with the grainy, out of focus, poor quality shots we get with our Sony p-n-s. It has done it's job over the last 2 years we have had it, but it is not the best for action shots that are required when you have a 3 year old and a 7 month old.

Also with the camera we ordered some accessories. First is a dedicated flash from Vivitar and a mini softbox/light diffuser from Dot Line. We also got a UV filter to help protect the lens. For a memory card we picked up a SanDisk Ultra II SDHC 8GB card. And to carry everything around we chose a Canon backpack style bag that has enough room for all of our stuff and space to spare. And as an added bonus, there was a $400.00 rebate on a Canon Pixma P9000 printer, so we ordered it as well. And the cool thing about the printer rebate is that we are paying $446.00 before the rebate. So we get the printer for $46.00 and change.

Now, where are we buying all of this photographic awesomeness? A place in New York City called B&H Photo and Video. Of all of the places we shopped locally and online for what we wanted, B&H had the best prices and deals, and the people are great to deal with. At least the 2 Ash and I dealt with were. So we strongly recommend you check them out if you're in the market for photo and video equipment.

Also, we were recommended a couple books, or I should say an author, that are very informative and keep things light, without bogging you down with digi-cam techie jargon. The author is Scott Kelby and the books are called "The Digital Photography Books, Vol. 1-3". We got ours on loan from the library, but we will probably buy them later on down the road. Maybe when a book store has a sale or we get a coupon. Another book we were told to get was the "Rebel T1i for Dummies". This one we did buy since it was camera specific and we needed all the help learning this thing that we can get.

So, by Wednesday, the 10th, UPS should be knocking at our door with our equipment, as long as there isn't a delay because of the snow over the weekend. I'll eventually post some info and our thoughts on the camera after we play around with it for a few days.

Wish us luck, or pray for us, lol.

So, until the next post, God Bless, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'! I hope my posts can be an inspiration to all who read them.


John, "Pop"

Ice is so uplifiting - Not in a good way!

Last night I was taking out the trash and noticed something alarming. Not too major, but enough to concern me. As I'm wheeling the trash cans out of the garage, I noticed the concrete apron of the driveway entering the garage has lifted up a good 2"-3"! Gotta love frost heave. When we moved to this house back in August of 2007, I noticed it and it wasn't bad at all. And last year during the summer, my son would ride his bike in and out of the garage with no problems. The concrete was lifted then, but only about a 1/2" or so and was like that since we've lived here. Now he'll need a ramp to jump out. I have a feeling that wonderful 70's construction is failing outside now. I've fixed just about everything inside by now.

I would imagine the gravel base was not deep enough or the soil wasn't compacted correctly, or at all. Heck, the gravel is probably only a couple inches deep, so no water can drain. So, it looks like this will be my next project for the spring and/or summer. Maybe we can swing pavers instead of concrete. That would be much nicer looking, but expensive, even with me doing all the labor. Maybe I can get my sister-in-law to help since she laid pavers around her pool practically by herself. Time to price materials, I guess.

So, until the next post, God Bless, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'!

John, "Pop"

Cruise-in Planning

I have always wanted to get a cruise-in started, but never had the pull, location or interested people to attend. I have been a part of someone else's cruise-in, sort-of, but never one on my own. When I was on the Street Racing Dayton Underground forum, I helped with a pretty large cruise-in that was always held at the Normandy Square shopping center in Centerville. But, those went south real fast because of people trying to be Johnny Hot Rod and speeding past the lot, doing burnouts and some even just coming out to start a fight with other members of the forums. But that was all with a different crowd of people and I had a different mindset then as well.

What I would like to do now is hold a cruise-in either every weekend, every 2 weeks or at least once a month, using a local church as the venue. Or maybe hold the cruise-in at a few select churches in the Dayton area. I'd like to see it open to all makes, models and styles. And it shouldn't compete with another cruise-in time or day.

My family and I attend Southbrook Christian Church, and I think it would be a great site for this event. The lot is huge and is easily accessible. But it's not real close to any major road, so there might be an issue with exposure to people driving by. There are other churches around Centerville that also have a large lot and a good location, but we have never been there and don't know if there would be many people interested.

Last October, our church had an event called Brookfest that had a car show, but we didn't make it in time to see what cars or people we showing. I was hoping we would have made it in time to talk to them about either joining our club, or at least the forums. Maybe this year we can.

Any thoughts and ideas would be great!

So, until the next post, keep the rubber side down, and get to wrenchin'!

John