Cheap Pete's

I really have to recommend Cheap Pete's for photo framing. I had a great experience today at their store location in Walnut Creek.  I had already had the photo mounted by Bay Photo Lab and took it to the store looking to get it framed, not really knowing what I was wanting. Not really knowing that 12x20 was an off size I ended up ordering a custom build up. During the conversation I inquired if they had a chart of "normal" sizes, they didn't but the assistant manager of the store Matt whom I was speaking with wrote all their frame sizes with the corresponding photograph size for my future reference. Talk about going the distance!! For my 12x20 I ended up buying a 20x28 frame matted 4", it is going to look incredible, and the best part is that it is a gift :) Gotta love photography.

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July

It's been a really weird month. So much smoke and heat. To get away I have been to a few Northern California beaches, and what a great time that has been. have been shooting more with my Point and shoot because it is so portable . I really wish I had one that shot raw though. The Canon G9 would be perfect but I think the sensor is just too small for 12 megapixels. That new Sigma DP1 sure looks good. I get a shipment of prints in today from Bay Photo, one of which is a mounted 12x20 which should be very interesting.

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Flock, Olympus, and smoke.

I have been trying out the new Flock 2 beta and it just an excellent browser. If you use photo upload sites, blog sites, news, rss etc, it really cannot be beat. I highly recommend it. It is not only fun, it saves a lot of time. The UI theme is very polished and the media interface bar is very handy. I can upload to Flickr, view friends photos, blog and read new very seamlessly.

I have been seriously considering buying an Olympus e420 with a 25mm pancake lens. I have been doing a lot of walking around and shooting. The light weight and small profile of the e420 is really attractive. I think it would be fun to shoot with.

It has been really smokey hear in the SF Bay Area for over a week now because of all the fires in the state. This has really changed the mood of the people, the light in the sky and overall appearance and health of our community. The other morning I woke up and the sun in its rise looked just like a cherry tomato. I wonder if this is what it is like to live in Seattle.

Gear

Well I finally got my 30D back from Canon. It now has a 2nd decent shutter button that works when pressed, yet I wonder how long this one will last. I have been just doing a lot of street stuff with a point and shoot and it is REALLY fun. I find myself seeing and feeling more about my environment than the camera. On this note I have been looking at an Olympus e420 with the 25mm pancake lens. I think it would be a real blast and it could replace my point and shoot (which is a Canon SD450 by the way) as my carry-always camera. I was of course considering the 40D to replace my buggy 30D, but I don't think I really need it.

Broken Shutter button - Again!

Well, the shutter button on my 30D has yet again bombed out. What happens is the button is pressed and nothing happens, then varyingly in seconds, the shutter will then operate. If I switch the exposure lock and focus to another button so the shutter button only operates, the problem persists. It's a bad problem because the photograph is not taken when expected. Needless to say I am frustrated with this issue. So the camera will be gone for 2 weeks and I have to eat the cost of shipping, bummer. A part such as this should be built to more durable standards. I take a lot of pictures everyday and need a tool that is dependable. Maybe the 30D was built more as a backup?

New camera shop in town!

I am so excited about having a first class camera shop near me, with knowledgeable people to talk to, and gear and accessories in stock. I just came back from the Camera West store opening in Walnut Creek, CA and it was great. I spoke with a good sales rep named Hal. The store was laid out very clean with excellent displays. They have some very nice used equipment for sale. I saw a really nice Nikon F100 and F3. They also have a lot of Leica and Mamiya gear. A very fun place to browse around. While I was there I picked up a BG-E2N battery grip, and an RS-80N3 remote switch. These are two items I should have bought a year ago and I have been putting it off ever since. My little finger finally has a home and the portrait shutter button will be very handy. I am pretty excited about the remote switch though. Here come some very sweet HDR's and close-ups.

Tough Gear

B&H has a good article on Tough Gear. Kind of an overview on cameras that are good in rough conditions.

There is a new camera store, Camera West opening in a city near me that I am going too check out tomorrow. I am pretty excited because all we have in our area are Wolf's, which is great to a point. I will give a report.

I am in dire need of a good photo trip, but time is scarce. I am thinking California North Coast, but I would really like to go to Vancouver Island, or those islands off Santa Barbara,, the Santa Catalina's. I also feel drawn to Missions, so I need to make a point of getting some shooting done. One region I think that would very interesting is San Ardo, CA. I always just drive through it, but I think there could be a lot there amidst the oil fields, hills, and train tracks.

Websites to see:
www.tomstoddart.com
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