Saving money on camera pack

I don't know about the rest of you that read this blog, But I love to save money any way I can. Here is my newest money saving project. First I took my old backpack I used in college. Then I cut up a old pair of kaki pants and bought a $7 package of foam padding. (You can find this at most any fabric or craft store.). Next I opened the largest compartment of the backpack and measure the inside of it. Then I cut a piece of the material to fit the back of the compartment. Now sewing the materiel into tubes that match the depth of the compartment then slide a strip of the foam into the tube and sew the ends shut. Once that was done I attached these padded sides to the back piece. (Tip) cut the foam large enough that it has to be forced into the clothe tube. My 3/4" foam ended up about 1/2" thick when done. All that was left to do now was make more of the fabric tubes at various lengths. This way I can configure the inside compartment to meet my needs as shown in the photos below.

 

My pack already had a padded back

section for a laptop. That made this the

perfect pack for this project. 

As you can see, the pack can now be configured to fit your equipment needs. If you happen to have any open space at the beginning, you simply place the extra dividers in the dead space as shown. The only other part that I do not have shown is a large pad that goes over the top of the equipment to protect it if your pack should happen to fall on its front side. When placing the dividers around your equipment always make sure that it is a snug fit for the best protection.

If you liked this project or any of my other ones. Let me know by leaving a comment.

What do you want?

I was getting ready to work on another product review when it struck me. What do you want? Would you reather I give out some tips and tricks to photography, would you like more information on new equipment, or would you like to have a mix of the two. I'm looking to make this blog a place that you want to visit for information regarding photography and the only way to do that is to get your imput. My goal is to give you what you need to make photography your favorite passion. Send your comments and I'll get back to researching great things that fit your wants and needs.

Our team is ready to take out the kayaks for a couple days while we await your responce. From rt to lt, John would reather stay out on the river. Alan's wondering if you even care. Walt, well he's just always happy to get away from the desk. And I your always caring publisher, wanting to keep you interested in photography and beautiful things.
I will write again soon (hopefully with what you want to know)..

P.S.
July is just a week away and you need to get ready for those 4th of July picnic and fireworks photos.

My review of the Canon T3i

The Canon T3i is the newest of the Canon Rebel line up. The T3i follows the very popular T2i. Both of these fit into the category of hobbiest to semi-pro. they both also have a lot of great features in common such as:
Canon's newest DIGIC 4 processor, 18.0 megapixel CMOS image sensor, full HD video recording, live view shooting and wireless flash photography.
The biggest change from the T2i to the T3i is the new vari-angle 3.0-inch LCD monitor. This is a great move for the photographers that like to take shoots from overhead and knee level. Now you can take out the guesswork when taking shoots while holding the camera over your head. It also helps people from the constant kneeling and getting back up. Another change that I noticed while holding this camera is that the buttons are a little larger and very convenient.
The T3i also comes with the 18x55mm IS EF kit lens which is great for all general use photography. If you want to get into a specific type of photography, You're in luck because the T3i handles the full line of Canon EF and EF-S lenses.
I see this as a great camera and a good investment. I recommend this for anyone that's looking for a new camera.

What's in the Box

<><> <> <><> EOS Rebel T3i Body EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Type II Lens Eyecup Ef (not shown) Wide Strap EW-100DBIII USB Interface Cable IFC-130U AV Cable AVC-DC400ST Battery Pack LP-E8 Battery Charger LC-E8E EOS Digital Solution Disk and Instruction Manuals "Great Photography is Easy" Booklet and "Do More with Macro" Booklet (not shown)

Look at the sky

When you take your photos outside are you finding that the sky is pail or even looks a little greyish. then you go and look at other people's photos with deep blue beautiful sky in their photos. To get those shots with a blue sky make sure that the sun is low and behind you. the higher the sun gets the more the sky will look washed out. Always remember the best times to get good shots are just before sunrise and just after sunset. This is when you'll capture the best deep colors in the sky. Another thing that adds to a picture is having clouds in the shot. Now to get the most out of those shots try to have the sun behind the cloud.. this will create some very light areas and some darker grey areas to add interest to the photo. I hope this helps you on your next photo shoot or even you next vacation. So get out there and take some pictures and have a great time doing it.
Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions about this site and the blogs posted here. Thank you and happy shooting.

Where was the sun located in this shoot?

Free photo editing software

Okay, I've finally got the time and information that I promised you. I guess it really wasn't that long since nobody has complained about it. We all like taking great pictures don't we? Well I assume you do. The problem is that once we take the shot it just doesn't look like we wanted it too look. All the pro''s use some kind of edit software. The standard in the industrie is "LightRoom" and "photoshop". But we all can't afford those programs right off the bat. So I've done some research for you and found some free software programs out there that do a decent job. Here are the sites and a example.

Picasa http://www.picasa.google.com/      

Gimp http://www.gimp.org/

Gimp2 http://www.paint.net/

Photoscape http://www.photoscape.org/

Picnik http://www.picnik.com/
Photo Shop www.gofree.com/freephotoshopdownload

I am currently using Picasa. It is a little limited on what you can do. But it's great at what it does do. All I did to this photo was adjust the saturation and shadow, It's that easy.

Make your images snap in the eye's of your viewers. Get the tool's and go have some fun with your photo's.

Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions about this site and the blogs posted here. Thank you and happy shooting.

Photo editing programs coming soon

Coming up in the next few days I'll have some information on photo editing. I'll give you some simple tips and examples. alone with that I will supply you with the names of some free software out there that you can use to enhance your photo's.
Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions about this site and the blogs posted here. Thank you and happy shooting.

Abstract Photo's

This is another way to improve your photography skills. Abstract photography is challenging, Yet the things that make up abstract photo's are as close as your yard. If you are in or near a large city try going into the heart of the city and see all kinds of new opportunities. The Key to this is no different than shooting a portrait, nature or landscape. look at the background the object you are shooting and the lighting. This is a good exercise for any level of photographer. Along with improving your skills, It makes you think about things in a whole new way.

Above is some house siding in the late evening. the shadows cast from the tree made this come out unique and beautiful. It doesn't have to be unrecognizable to be abstract. (I did change the color on the siding.) To the left is a plastic wicker chair that is coming apart. as you can see it is common things around us. we just look at them from a different point of view. So go out there and take some pictures and have fun. By the way can you see the mistake I made on the chair shot, it could have been avoided if I only took a seacond. If you would like to see more, go to sites worth looking at on the right of this page and click on my photos. from there you can pick any of the sets on the right of that page. So Happy Shooting.

Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions about this site and the blogs posted here. Thank you and happy shooting.

B&W

When you think about it, some things just never lose thier appeal (in some cases). Think about when television was only broadcast in black and white. then they figured out how to do it in color. If you could find one these days, would you buy a black and white TV? Watching all these shows in B&W just wouldn't make much sense!
Now think about photography. It's a whole different story all together. Could you imagine only having the ability to make color photo's. We would lose one of the most beautiful and creative types of photography out there. Some photos just carry a more dramatic feel to them in bLack and white that they cann't do in color. Now I will admit that some of you will never take a photo in black and white. But I guarranty that it would make you look at your photography style in a whole new way. So I recommend that you try it sometime. Not only will it make you look thru the lens in whole new light, it will make you look at light in a new way as well. So challenge yourself to do some black and white photos. You may find that they are more dramatic and have a completely different feel to them. I would say that you may catch yourself doing more of it in the future.

Give it a shot and have fun while you do it.
Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions about this site and the blogs posted here. Thank you and happy shooting.

Project 365

What is project 365? Well it is really quite simple. Project 365 is where you commit yourself to take 1 photo a day for an entire year (365 days). You may be one of the many people that are extremely busy and don't have the available time to take that one picture some days. that doesn't meen that you cann't commit yourself to this project. If you are unable to take any picture during the week, You simply take the amount of pictures to equal one a day. Example: your working all week and don't have the time. Take five additional photos on Saturday. The object is to improve your photography skills. it does not matter what you shot. Review your past photos regularly to see how you can tweek it to be better. This is a great way to get more creative and have fun while you do it. So go ahead and commit yourself to this and you will notice great improvement in you photography as well. Go out, take a picture and have a great time.

Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions about this site and the blogs posted here. Thank you and happy shooting.