Happy Birthday AGAIN!

This was a Happy Birthday message from all the friends at Willie's Ice House on FM 1960 (not a radio station) here in wonderful Houston, Texas. Yes we have heat, humidity and hurricanes, but we don't have snow, we don't have constant wind (like in Chicago) and we don't have idiot imported tribes as they do in Minnesota.

Since myself and my friends and associates have spent a HUGE amount of cash at Willie's, this special Birthday wish is really appreciated! We love every minute we spend there, and since it's become my own office in a beer bottle, I'll see y'all again really soon!

Happy Birthday!

Just a short post to wish my business associate Mitch a Happy Birthday!
As well as my long time friend, Rodger! Happy B-Day, buddy!

And me! Happy Birthday to all of us!
May we grow old (too late for that) and have the greatest of fun
in the years to come!

Megapixel & Resolution Reality

Today, I ran into a fellow photographer who ALSO paid a ton of money for a digital camera a number of years ago. He has the SONY DSC-F707 (5 megapixel camera) and was looking for advice on whether to keep it or get one of the 'new' cameras. The Carl Zeiss lens on his camera made me tell him no! No, keep it - it's the sharpest optical glass on the planet - and any 8,10 or 12 megapixel camera produced today wouldn't compete with the sharpness and resolution of that lens. The glass itself on the camera is about 1 inch in diameter - and it's in the lens that the image is first created.

He laughed at my answer - and told me that he had made a 15 x 30 (foot) image for the side of a truck with that camera - with that lens!

Him trading in or giving up on this camera for the luxury of saying "I have one of the new ones" isn't even close to being worth it. He'll get many more years of professional use out of this camera. The design is unique - it's the best optical glass made, and the lens ISN'T only about 4mm in diameter, like on the 'new' technology cameras.

He paid $1400 for it when it came out, but the quality of the images has been worth it!

Energizer "D" cells Exposed

Here is some interesting consumer information about the popular Energizer D batteries. It seems that everybody is out to make a quick buck, only some want it quicker. I use Kodak rechargeable batteries - they seem to last the longest in terms of shooting time in my digital cameras.

Energizer "D" Battery Exposed

Batteries and Sources

A good tip to get some great and useful AA batteries - make contact with your local Walmart/Walgreens/Target/CVS photolab and get them to save you some AA batteries from all the disposable cameras they process film from. These AA batteries are made in China - like everything else in the Western Hemisphere - but they'll work for a while.

If you use a disposable camera, before you drop it for processing - wind the film to the end, and pry the plastic housing open with a a flat screwdriver (that's what the photolabs use) and get the battery out. Save it - it's great for clocks, and even digital cameras. They don't last TOO long, but they're free.

So take the battery out! And put the roll of film in the envelope, and get your processing!

From Compaq to HP - Infestation Indeed!

This is an image shot with my first digital camera - an Olympus E-10. I still have the camera, but this shot of the Compaq Computer headquarters north of Houston, Texas is no more. As most know, it's been replaced by the Hewlett Packard brand name after a unique merger earlier this century. This image has nothing technical to show - except that things change. After the newly created HP corporation merged (bought out due to cranial cave-in - and pure, distilled greed of the CEOs at that time) a lot of good talent and people went away. Just poof - gone.

It's indeed a shame that one of the top headlines on cnn.com today was that their new portable printer really wasn't worth a damn.

"Hewlett-Packard recently released its Officejet H470 Mobile Series, an update to its line of portable inkjet printers. The models range from $224 to $314, which isn't cheap, considering the majority of home inkjets cost less than $100.

The print quality is also unsatisfactory, which wasn't a surprise but disappointing nonetheless."

It's great to see that HP's slogan is indeed changing from INVENT - to INFECT. They managed to infest a great company and remove the great people who loved it and built it, so any failures coming their way might be quite fair. Following the 'herd' might not be the best of strategies anymore.

Advertising Photography with Digitals

I've been shooting advertising material with various digital cameras - from 4Megapixel machines to 12Megapixels for a few years now. The quality of the image comes from ISO/ASA setting, aperture, exposure time, use of a tripod, lighting and of course, planning, design and execution of the shot itself.

This shot is of a product called RotaSeal - used in almost all fuel station applications - to allow the hose to rotate - and still keep the seal around it intact.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Just a short note to wish everyone a happy Mother's Day! Enjoy the day, have fun, and have a drink!

How many cameras do you really own?

It has come to my attention that a great number of people have multiple cameras - film based and digital. For those of us who spent a fortune on digital cameras about 7 years ago, our attachment to the cameras and related equipment is sustained by the amount of cash we spent on it back then. We can't just throw away something we spent $2000 on back in the year 2001.

So my questions to readers are:

• How many cameras do you own?
• How many are digital?
• How many are film based?
• Are you still using them?

Chasing Megapixels

The constant desire to upgrade and have the 'best' is driving the sale of cameras and other photo related accessories. People who know nothing about photography are clamoring to upgrade their 6 megapixel camera for an 8 megapixel machine. The market is driven by numbers only. Eight is more than six, so it's gotta be good, right? People who print only 4x6 inch vacation and family type prints don't realize that a 3 (three) megapixel camera will produce great results. I've made a 30x40 inch print from a 7 megapixel digital camera and it looks fantastic.


Rather than chase after megapixels and the highest numbers one can find, photographers (amateur and pro) should concentrate on content itself. The subject of what they're shooting is more important than how it's shot. If you can produce 'wow' images with ANY camera, then the only limitation is what you see in your mind. The camera is purely a tool.
I know people who own 5,6,7 and 8 megapixel cameras and do nothing creative with them. Being impressed by numbers isn't creative.