Uh, I guess I missed posting an entry on this here wee blog last week. Sometimes I wish I had a lot to complain about. You know how popular whiny and complainy blogs seem to be these days. I have to admit that I quite enjoy reading such blogs, though only when I’m in a good mood and I can afford to laugh at other people’s petty problems.
I’ve been working on my new photography portfolio. Last week I was so ready to move in to the darkside with an all-Flash portfolio site but now I’m not so sure about it anymore. For one thing, it’s not really super easy to update. Not to mention that people who have Flash disabled for whatever reasons wouldn’t be able to see anything and as a former web designer who always put accessibility on top of everything, it just doesn’t feel right. So I guess I’m going back to square one with the site.
While we’re on the topic of photography, I might be able to afford to buy a new lens soon. Yay! After checking out the prices of the Canon lenses, I entertained the thought of buying a Nikon D40 with the kit lens instead which cost about the same with the Canon lens that I want (in Canada anyway), but then decided that I want the lens more than a second DSLR camera. I’m thinking of getting the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM because it has image stabilization and the equivalent of a 5x zoom (well, almost), but we’ll see. The price might put my better half off, but personally, I think it would make a good investment.
Speaking of investments, I recently got a manual external flash off eBay to be used on a wedding shoot next month. It’s a cheap Vivitar one because I didn’t feel like spending hundreds of dollars on a fancypants Canon-brand flash that I would probably use only once or twice a year (I’m a natural light fanatic). I was just checking a wedding photography group on Flickr and turns out that even professional photographers prefer manual flash to the TTL one. It made me feel better for not investing too much on one. 🙂
We’re going to the cinema tonight to see the new Harry Potter movie. Here’s hoping that there won’t be too many noisy and annoying kids in the theater.
That’s a very nice lens… I borrowed one from a friend once and managed to take some terrific shots. Still in love with my wide-angle though. 🙂
I was considering getting one of those 10-20mm ultra wide angle lenses but then realized that for the type of photography I do (mostly close up of stuff), I wouldn’t have much use for it. Besides, my 22-55mm lens, while not the greatest lens in the world, already serves all my wide-angular needs. 🙂
I own that lens and I love it. Here’s a shot taken with it. One of my faves: http://www.flickr.com/photos/halo969/331482602/in/set-72157594159208004/
I have used this lense and its excellent. Lately though I find myself obsessing over the Canon 50mm f/1.4. It’s inexpensive and produces really amazing results. If you are a natural light fanatic and you take candid shots, I highly recommend it. That said, if you need to be able to zoom, then you picked a good one.
If I weren’t happy with my 50mm f/1.8 (the original one which was built much better than the Mk-II version), I would definitely consider the 50mm f/1.4. I just don’t think it’s worth the price to upgrade when the difference in f-stop is not that great.
No comments re a Canon lens – I use a Nikon D70 SLR . . . with the 18 – 70 mm lens. It covers most of what I need, but I occasionally need a wider lens, so I bought the Sigma 10 – 20 mm lens and I am very pleased with it. I also have longer lenses from my film days, but I use them only occasionally. On my wish list is an image stabilization lens. I bought my wife the Canon Powershot SD800 IS. If the image stabilization on the lens you are considering is comparable to that on the SD800 you will be very impressed.
Re a photo portfolio, I went through the same dilemna when I decided to take a crack at setting up a photo website. I was a true newbie and took a crack at HTML and CSS. After considering a wide range of photo gallery programs, I chose Breezebrowser. It is very easy to use, works with RAW files and makes use of templates. Several are included with the program and there are additional (free) third party templates. I gravitated to Peter Berger’s templates that emulate the look of pBase.com. You can see my photo galleries at http://fisherpix.ca (with links to both Breezebrowser and Peter Berger’s site at the bottom of the gallery pages). Breezebrowser is very reasonably priced and the support is excellent.
BTW – there are a number of pics from Vancouver Island. I will try to reply to your message asking for tips later.
Barry
Love your blog, and your flickr photography, great job!