Illustration Friday-- I do it. Do you do it?

Illustration Friday. What is it? It's fun. It's a chance to get your art work out there, and have people comment on it.

There is a suggested topic every week, from what I've experienced; usually just one word, and you get to think of something that you've done or something that you can create that will be your own personal interpretation of that topic.

For instance, the first time I participated in IF, the topic was "Night." I submitted a link to a picture I created by using my own photograph and messing with it in photoshop. Before I logged off, I started checking out everyone else's submissions to see what they had in mind for "night."

That's the fun part. There are so many different interpretations for the same word. It's a little addictive. But the best part is seeing all the comments you get after a day or two of people checking out your art work. Then you see them come back the next week because they like your stuff. There's nothing like it. How many of you have participated in IF? Do you think it's fun and cool, or do you think it's lame? Tell us what you think!













http://www.illustrationfriday.com/

Shooting the Moon

I did this series recently in the freezing cold. My fingers were so numb I could hardly change the settings on the Canon EOS 20D.

I used a 300mm zoom and stayed with f/16 for each shot, but changed the ISO and shutter speed accordingly for each. I also used the AEB function set at one stop after -1 and +1 for different exposure compensation. What a great feature! Had I gloves, I would have mess with the exposure even more... Ahhh well, next time.

I did try a few other things too, like the Bulb setting as it is supposed to be great for photographing the heavens, but I kept coming up with too much exposure. So I said screw it, save it for another time with warmer fingers. I also played with the mirror lock but as I'm fairly new at it I quite didn't achieve what I was going for.

Then I Photoshopped the group into the ring you see. Photoshop is an easy alternative for such an effect, but it is not necessary. I have taken a series of time intervals during the last lunar eclipse, setting the camera to allow multiple exposures on one frame, thus giving more of a diagonal effect across the sky. Very cool!

Canon's New EOS 5D DSLR

I have the Canon EOS 20D DSLR. I bought it for myself less than a year ago, and it replaced my 35mm film Rebel EOS TI that my husband had bought for me. He is still lamenting the replacement. You might think that I would be bugging my eyes out over the new Canon EOS 5D DSLR, which has the fancy pricetag of $3300, for just the body. It's got more megapixels, but when I did some research to compare film and digital, I found out that 6 megapixels was enough not to notice the difference between a film and digital image. So, for me, going to 8.4 megapixels made an incredible difference in quality: You can zoom in and not see a single pixel. So, if a 12.8 megapixel camera is supposed to be that much better, how are you supposed to tell the difference between 8.4 and 12.8? It was great at 6 megapixels. Are you really getting that much more bang for your buck?

The 5D is also missing a lot of my features, but that might not be a bad thing. The reviews on my camera said that it was too heavy, the LCD was too small, everybody said it was well-built, and seemed to be sturdy enough to take outside shots. The new one is just as sturdy, but it's even heavier now, because of its larger sensor. It makes better image quality, but let me repeat: It makes the camera heavier. So, anytime you are trying to take a photo without a tripod, it just makes more sense to have a lighter unit in your hand.

The 5D got rid of the program pre-sets, which makes the camera less cluttered. They also have a few extra things that might be fun to play with. It's more of a professional's camera: this is not your amateur's camera. The The new LCD screen is larger, but I've never had a problem with mine. The review I read says that it has 230,000 pixel resolution, which makes the image sharper; however, again, I don't have a problem with mine. So, unless you are really looking to upgrade from film to digital, or are thinking of replacing your now obsolete 10D with a heavier camera, I would recommend that you either wait for the price to come down, or for Canon to come out with a lighter-weight, sturdy camera.

Be sure to read the review, because there are loads of details about the inner strength of the camera, the different noise levels, and the AF system which I don't have room for here.

http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=2&article_id=1603

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