welcome to sk


No!! I am not missing-in-action nor am I missing any action. I purposefully missed posting here in May, but I did not miss any action or activity in May. I felt that I should not upset the viewers who are allergic to bright colours like RED. May is a RED month for some people. Some wear it on their back, while others just "see" it, and some may even get traumatized by it [because they want to], and the smattering of yellow between the red in any crowd, really makes for a good snap. But it does far more than that. It tells me that we are much better than we know we are, and can really live in peace and harmony, irrespective of our differences, political or otherwise. It shows too that we are in our lane, and we just need to STAY in our lane, not cause any ruckus, and all will be well in SKN. But we love drama, and without it we do not seem to be happy.

We are now into the holiday months until 2013. Every month of the year following Easter we have a holiday, holidays and holiday action, liming and feting. It is what we do best. There is no place on earth like SKN. I keep telling folks to do like me. "Live like a Tourist, and live every day like it is Christmas". I see some of our returning Nationals, and all our non-national residents are doing that in great style, and I can tell you, it is working for all of us. But a lot of our residents may not have fully caught on that SK is now tourist country and you need to get "tourist-fy". I guess 'in time to come' all will be well.

It is time again for Music Festival. 16-years already. It is a great opportunity for a few to capture photo images of some 'celebrities' in concert ... nothing can beat the thrill of being at a live performance. The venue will be rammed pack, as usual, and everybody will have a jolly good time ... and I hope that the music festival money don't take a hike without notifying the organizers. We have to compliment the people who we see in front trying to make things happen. It is not easy in SK. There are always people in the back who want to take praise, but we do not see them anyway near the front line, anytime. I believe that all hand should be on deck, irrespective, even just standing on the side observing. But that is the way folks go to see now-a-days. It is the new thinking. I am not pointing a finger, because this is the norm in almost all clubs, societies and organizations worldwide. Some people work their butts off while others lime around and get the praise and perks.

I am flattered that some of our 'ladies' have decided that they wish to queue up in front my camera lens. I am not lead to photographing the female figure, clothed or otherwise, fashion or nude, in this dispensation, but I am gently feeling a pull to warm up the studio equipment and accessories again, and now FB lady friends are scheduling my photo shoots with only my agreement, in PRINCIPLE. Well, our ladies are always right. So I could be forced to rise to the occasion.

I have also run into folks who seem to have a real interest in photography and seriously inquire. Originally I took a decision not to be technical here, but just to rant, no rave, while I contemplate unlearning my old school photography, or maybe just merging the old and new school perspectives, into one that is STRESS FREE. People photography comes with STRESS, and I do not wish to get there again at ANY COST.

So I do not give photographic advise but would share my own observations and experiences with persons who respectfully inquire. What works for me may not work for someone else, but the information could provide a starting point for their ongoing research. Unlike some photo folks I think it is a waste of time trying to hide information from others. I do not see how I can regret sharing any photo information with anyone, competitor or otherwise. Every photographer is uniquely different, they may use the same tools, hardware and software but the results and the end products will always be different.

I am a Canon camera  person. 1968-1989 Pentax was queen for me. In 1989 Canon became king meeting my new photo requirements with T-90's and later the EOS-1's. Those were the film days.  In 2004 I was forced to un-retire and acquire an EOS-10D digital camera to take photos at my neighbours wedding. A year or so later I upgraded to the EOS-20D. In January 2012 I upgraded to an EOS-40D. I pray that the force will continue to be with me so that by Carnival 2012 I can upgrade to an EOS-5D Mark 2.

I find that this professional line of digital cameras work well out of the box, but I get best image output by tweaking the custom features and other user settings, that are unavailable on the Rebel series. The EOS-40D is very user friendly and I really don't know why I waited so long to get one.

The EOS40D has a popup flash, good for fill flash in sunlight, but the 580EX is the best flash ever for the Canon EOS cameras. With a couple of 580EX flash units I do NOT need to buy any other brand of radio and remote control device, because the 580EX comes with a Canon built in radio remote control system to control all the Canon EX flash units in a multi-lighting setup, and total control is also available from the EOS camera menu. I tell you Canon is hard to beat. I am now reading the book, SPEEDLITER'S HANDBOOK by Syl Arena, 390 pages of information on using and maximizing my speedlite 580EX. When I am done reading I will experiment with my umbrella, softbox and a lady or two.

More information on the "Speedliter's Handbook" by Syl Arena can be found here

I am not not a fan of Lightroom and  Photoshop, but in time I may have to play with them. For those who know, I once operated a photo lab, and the professional image editing software license has not expired. The hardware here is quite ordinary, a Mac Pennies Hurricane Computer made in St Kitts with maxed out memory, and an upgraded Dell Dimension 8200 computer for backup.  A short list of the software on the computers, for when they are required: Photoshop, Lightroom, DXO Optics Pro, Photo Mechanic, Canon Utilities, Photomatix, PhotoZoom Pro, Portrait Professional Studio, Google Picasa3, a suite of Panorama programs, and others.

I decided a long time ago that I will only use the best software and hardware available, because with a bit of knowledge the best image output is easily possible. Ever so often I see new imaging programs but they are all unable to outperform what I already use so I am learning to leave them severely alone. Evaluating all kinds of "other peoples" software on my main machine can ultimately lead to compromising the integrity of the computer, because, all software developers are not created equal.

All my images on Facebook and other websites that can be "right click" and downloaded are watermarked. It is the practice that photographers watermark photos for all the right reasons. I have elected to share my images via the Internet and the images are all free to download by anyone. Image watermarking is for all intents and purposes a legal requirement. I do not have to be contacted by anyone wishing to download an image. I know it is courteous to say something, but if you don't I am not loosing any sleep over it ... if however you use an image in some money making circumstances, you can be honest enough to say something and I can suggest a charity that feed homeless people  and hungry children, which would really appreciate a monetary contribution from you.

You see, life in SK is not as complicated as some folks would have us believe. It is never as bad as some folks make out, and music festival will be bursting at the seems again, but others will still be complaining .... welcome to SK
















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