One (of many) things that Mac and I found we had in common was a dislike of having our photo taken. Of course this meant we spent most of the week trying to catch sneaky snaps of each other, and it seems the odd good portrait in Macs case …… well I really like it!!!

I have posted all the unedited photos from the trip on Flickr and will be posting some edited ones in due course.

Thanks Mac for the photo!

It is a while since I purchased my camera bag, and as you guys gave me such great advice I reckon that this review is long over due – sorry!!!

To recap, I went with the 7 Million Dollar Home from Crumpler at $128.50.

Shallow person that I am, the look of the bag had a huge influence in the eventual decision. I didn’t want to be carrying around what was obviously a camera bag, as I tend to carry a bag with me at all times, so I like my computer bag and camera bag to double up where necessary so that they need to look like a ‘normal’ bag as well!

I have just sold the old Sony DSC F707, which I loved but have no use for, so we are looking for another Point & Shoot. I will keep the Sony DSC T7 as I am happy enough with it, although the battery life is pretty poor. but Sands wants something that she can carry around with her all the time, has a viwfinder idealy as she is not a fan of just using the LCD, and has a pretty good zoom capability.

Mac recently suggested that we picked a weekly subject and both took a photograph, posted it and let you guys comment on it.

I liked the idea as I need the motivation to get out with the camera more, and I like the idea that this will make me take a greater variety of pictures.

I was less enthralled with his first choice of subject though – Interesting Fruit or Vegetable. Taking pictures of food isn’t my favourite, and the choice of fruit and vegetables here is always limited (mostly fresh, locally grown – not many imports) but on the other hand it made me think!

I had huge hopes for Photoshop CS3 RAW ($34.99), not least because it is written by Mikkel Aaland who wrote one of the best books on photography that I have, Photoshop Lightroom Adventure.

I wasn’t dissapointed in any shape of form, but it didn’t inspire me as much as Lightroom but in all honesty I think that is because I have become too focussed on theory and I need to get out and explore a bit more with the actual camera!

From Inspiration to Image is the tag line of the excellent Take Your Photography to the Next Level ($39.95 from RockyNook) and that sums it up perfectly!

It is all about becoming a better photographer, not about taking a better picture! Let me explain ………

To take a better picture in my mind is primarily technical. It is about shutter speeds, apertures, lighting etc. It is a bewildering (at times) array of techniques that even when you get it right often results in a picture that just doesn’t ‘look right’.

I was in at least two minds over this book. In theory I shouldn’t have needed it – I have been using my D80 for a while now, and it has a pretty good instruction manual with it, allbeit as easy to navigate as any manual!

The book was well presented, in a logical manner, with some clear and easy to follow illustrations (nice touch using the Apple Cinema Display throughout the book – minus the Apple logo!). The CD was very easy to use and flowed in a natural sequence, with some good examples to explain and inspire!

Long shot this but wondering if anyone fancied trying to put together a trip over to here to take some photographs, drink some beer, play some golf (well maybe not but sounds good and it is an option), geek out on Macs etc!!!!

I suggest October as weather just about perfect then, still hot and sunny but not scorching, and the holiday season is over so things are cheaper and less crowded ……

At $29.99 the Photoshop CS3 Photo Effects Book is a book that you may as well have in your Photo Library as not only will it give some life to otherwise dull images, but it also unearths a whole range of features that you probably aren’t using in Photopshop.

The book is divided into 9 main sections:

1. Ready To Cook
2. Tonal And Color Effects
3. Graphic Art Effects
4. Lighting Effects
5. Natural World Effects
6. Traditional Photographic Effects
7. Distortion Effects
8. Texture Effects

Believe it or not I plan most posts – but this morning I woke up with a range of photography related questions bouncing around in my head, so I thought I would quickly post them and see where your thoughts lay with them?

Do you ……….. Leave your Tripod packed and ready to go, or set up and ready to use?

This thorough, self-paced guide to Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book ($54.99)written by the experts at Adobe Systems’ is ideal for beginning users who want to learn key Photoshop concepts and techniques, while readers who already have some experience with Photoshop can use this book to learn Photoshop CS3’s more advanced features and newest tools.

With digital camera usage now established, the demand for easy, affordable photo editing tools has increased. Adobe’s Photoshop Elements leads the way as an affordable image editing tool. 40 Digital Photo Retouching Techniques with Photoshop Elements ($16.99) is an easy-to-follow, full-color guide shows all digital photographers how to make their photos look their best with dozens of well-organized, hands-on techniques. Readers learn how to change or replace a color, enhance faces, fix burred images, correct poor exposures, create a slide show, and more.

Thoughts and Impressions