Canon EOS 1Ds
70-300 mm zoom

Panasonic Lumix
5 Mega pixel / 6x zoom

Nikon FE
MD12 motor-drive
70-150 mm. zoom

I was first introduced to digital photography, when I was invited to join the Melbourne [Australia] Camera Club, over the internet, after I had set up this web site of scanned prints. I had seen the little toy digital cameras, and I was not impressed--until I began seeing the results of the new image sensors, through the club's competitions. Compared to the grain and inherent fuzziness of, even the best, 100 ASA film, the sharpness and acuity of the new medium made itself apparent to my eyes. So I began to take the little toys a little more seriously. But the price of the first ones was too steep for my budget--so it has taken me a while to get outfitted seriously.

My two main complaints with the little, compact, digital cameras, is the lack of a view-finder [which renders the camera useless in bright sun light] and the long time delay for the image to be captured from when the shutter was pushed. The little things are so small, that I never can hold on to mine, one-handed, without pushing one of several buttons on the back, with the palm of my hand. But if you have time and patience, even the little toy digital's images are superior to those on 35 mm film. [providing you don,t mind a long depth of field in your telephoto shots] I have also noticed, that more people are not so intimidated by a little toy camera, than a large 35 mm camera. ..although it is very difficult to capture a fleeting expression with one. It really will take quality photographs, if the circumstances are fit to its capabilities.

I have finally outfitted myself with a Canon EOS-1Ds Single Lens Reflex camera body and an amazing, image-stabilized, zoom lens. This is the last improved version of the first professional Digital camera body that Canon designed, and I'm pretty impressed with its feel and action so far. I'm astounded at how well the image stabilization lens works. ..and how fast the auto-focus is. ..and how creamy-smooth is the shutter button. This web site is comprised of small photographs, because many of the images, used for the film/print scanning, just can't stand any more magnification, to someone with their nose to a high-resolution monitor. I'm hoping that this new camera will change that. ..but how soon I will upgrade the site, remains to be seen.

My film camera is a Nikon FE, which I would call a semi-professional derivative of the classic Nikon F, of the late 1960's. I haven't used it in quite a while. ..to the point that I don't have a clue what images might be exposed on the film that is in it. The digital age has put the film into the category of a rather outdated, esoteric, recording medium, really. I can't think of any advantages it might have over a digital image storage. ..but I keep the camera, because I've lived with it, and four others, for the last 35 years, and most of my life has been recorded by a Nikon FE, and Nikon's zoom lenses. I still love the way the camera and motor-drive sound: "Kaaal-iK, Whirrrrrrrrrrrr. I still feel a sense of anticipation at hearing that sound.

I'm not a collector--I'm a minimalist. So I have never accumulated a large, impressive array of lenses and specialized gadgets. The "equipment" side of photography has changed dramatically, since I started out with Kodak Brownie, when they were pretty much a brown plastic cube, with a view finder and a shutter button on it. I think I was six when I got that for Christmas. By the time I was 12 years old, I was rewarded, for my enthusiasm for photography, with a "half-frame" 35mm camera that shot 72 photos on a roll of 36 exposures. Most all of the photos in the main body of this site have been shot on film, with my trusty Nikon FE's, and scanned from prints made from that film. [I had a flat-bed scanner that worked fine, but a film scanner that didn't. No Kudos for Nikon, there] The digital revolution, however, knocked my film processing company out of business. ..as it did with my local film lab, shortly after the turn of the century/millennium. ..and left me wondering what to do, myself, for a good long while. With my new Canon SLR body/lens combination, I now feel a new sense of empowerment, that I have not felt since I was able to use that first genuine, Nikon F, with the interchangable, bayonette, lenses, working on the Purdue University Year Book staff, during the Vietnam War. I would certainly encourage any photographers to give the digital cameras a try, if you haven't already. The Image stabilization feature is well worh the cost.

I am thankful for all the people who have spent so much energy and time, sequestered away in offices, labs, and factories, just to make it so much easier for me, to bring the viewer a pleasing image to enjoy for a brief moment in time. Photos are only new for an instant--and then you have seen them. ..and we all have such a voracious apetite for anything new and pretty. So my praise goes to the engineers and the maintainence men and women--and everybody in between, who helps build the cameras and computers, capable of producing the images you see. I am just a button-pusher, trying to share some of the wonderful things and places I've had the good fortune to witness, with the rest of you all, who couldn't be there.