The Answers

I thought I would post these now....
(because everyone is bugging me)

The format for the answers is:
Photo = Camera, So....

A=2
B=7
C=5 (yup, a cheap 2mp digital camera... on a tripod)
D=3 (An even cheaper point & shoot but with a great macro lens)
E=1
F=6
G=8
H=4


So, don't worry about the camera....... savor the moments!

Match Game

Someone at work came up to me and said that they really like a couple of my photos, and that I must have a really expensive camera in order to "take such good pictures". Well truth be told, I have a lot of really nice cameras, but only one is worth a bit of money if it were new. Most of the cameras I have are several years old, and many of them can be had on Ebay for under $200. In fact I have only 1 new camera, the average age of all my other cameras are 18 years old, and the oldest camera I use is now 30 years old. One person who used a Canon G5 digital camera (point and shoot) even accused me of "Cheating" when they saw my Nikon D200. What the hell the person meant by "cheating" I don't know.... I did not want to prompt for clarification....

The point here is that it is not the camera that makes the photo.... it is the moment that makes the photo. All cameras work basically the same, and Canon is not better than Nikon and Digital is not better than film.... or visa-versa. You choose cameras like you would choose a power tool, a car, or a dish washer. You look for features that meet your needs and then you compare prices.

Since I started this blog, there were only a few times that I ever stated which particular camera was used to make the photo with....In fact, I bet many people out there may have thought I was either strictly using digital, or still shooting film. The real fact is, I use both and I don't think anyone could tell. So let's play a game.... a match game where I post a set of photos and you the reader, try to pick the camera that I made the photo with. Oh yea... music... hummm, how about: DOWNLOAD: Waltz for Stan. By Stan Getz (from the album Apasionado).

Here are the photos (you can click on them to make them bigger)

(A) Heading Home



(B) Making Plans



(C) Parry Sound Sunset




(D) Becks




(E) Becky




(F) Christmas



(G) Hamilton Evening




(H) Daffodil



And here are the cameras:

(1) Yashica Mat 124 G. Medium Format film 6x6cm (1977)
This camera is completely mechanical, with manual focus, aperture, and shutter but has a basic needle-type light meter.



(2) Mamiya RB67 Pro-s. Medium Format film 6x7cm (1994)
This camera is a mechanical professional grade medium format camera, and completely manual in operation... there is not even a built-in light meter!



(3) Nikon Zoom 90 (2001)
This camera is a 35mm film point and shoot, and great for "snap-shots".



(4) Canon A1. 35mm film (1986)
This camera is electro-mechanical with manual focus and electronic exposure and shutter control.



(5) Canon Powershot A60. A 2 Mega-pixel Digital point and shoot (2004)
This camera is completely automatic digital.



(6) Nikon D200. Digital SLR (2006)
This camera is a professional grade 10 Mega-pixel SLR Camera .



(7) Nikon F3. 35mm film (1991)
This camera is electro-mechanical with manual focus and electronic exposure and shutter controls. it was Nikon's last professional grade manual focus SLR.



(8) Nikon FM2n. 35mm film (1984)
This camera is completely mechanical with a manual focus and basic light meter.

I will post the answers next week...........

Niagara Falls...Slowly I turn, Step by step, I walked up to...

I needed some shots to submit for a club assignment on "Ice". Since it is just past the peak of Winter, visitors to Niagara Falls get to see the falls under "Maximum Ice Conditions". It is only a 45 min drive from my house... and this time of year, it is almost like a ghost town. In keeping with the theme, we need a song about Ice... Ice Cube, Ice-T... no, how about something like an "Ice Age", like a caveman.... hey, like the Geico Caveman advertisements. DOWNLOAD: Remind Me. By Royksopp

Many people don't know that Niagara Falls is not the name of the waterfalls. It is derived from the old town of Niagara, that now straddles the border. Namely Niagara Falls, New York, USA and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The falls once known as "The Falls at Niagara, are now called "American Falls" at Niagara Falls N.Y. and "Horseshoe Falls" at Niagara Falls Ontario. Just to the left of American Falls is a thin thing called "Bridal Veil Falls"... but it is covered over with ice this time of year.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo of the American Falls from the N.E.

As we walked up toward Horseshoe falls I took another of the American Falls. For those that are unfamiliar with this place, just across the river and ice is the U.S.A. Which means that Canada gets the best view of the falls.

I think it is funny that Canada provides the lights for both countries. The reason the light beams are so prevalent in the photo..... the shear volume of water spray in the air from nearby Horseshoe Falls.

Horseshoe Falls

Behind the mist and spray which got us fairly wet, I took this shot of Horseshoe Falls in a 90 Second exposure. This photo does not give the shear size justice, so for my friends from Europe and Japan, Horseshoe Falls is 800 Meters Wide, and 55 Meters high, but dumps 186,000 cubic meters of water over it's edge every minute.

The foot of Clifton Hill.

When I was a kid, other than the view of the falls, Clifton Hill was the place to go. A short walk from the Falls is a place where you can find amusements of all sorts, from scary "Fun houses", to rides, Wax museums, theaters, bars and Freak shows. Today Clifton Hill runs for several kilometers of various entertainment facilities. Oh yea... it is all built on a long, gradual hill.

The New Fallsview Casino

Today, the Casino is the big entertainment facility at the falls..... most likely why there was nobody looking at the falls on this clear March evening.... they were inside one of the two casinos at Niagara Falls.