Horst's notes (154) 

You know I will ask if I get stuck and I probably will.

Okay, Horst. Frankie's off tomorrow and Thursday and we have some chores to knock out. The rest of the week it's just me and Sam so I plan to knuckle down and LEARN my copy of PhotoShop Elements. I've been skating along, using basic functions and I know there is a lot more I can squeeze out of it. I'm also going to go through at least one of the tutorials each day and put that lesson into practice.

I also plan to go out each day and learn one advanced function on my camera. I've been using the pocket guide but there's so much more that it can do and I intend to at least understand as much as possible. Then we'll see what I can do.

Oh, man you lucky dog! I've only seen photos of the park but what I've seen were gorgeous! I can't wait to see your work. Oh how I wish I was going with you!

COME ON OCTOBER!

The filters are fabulous! I'm sure you noticed the difference in the color quality on some of the beach shots. According to the package the polarizer is meant to be rotated inside it's mount until you get the color you want. I'm still playing with it and I'll order the same kit. UV and polarizer filters for the other 2 lenses as soon as Uncle Sam recharges our checking account. We spent a little more than we had budgeted for but everyone had a ball! Thanks for the tip on the filters; they make a huge difference!

I appreciate your compliment more than you can know. I still have an enormous amount to learn about the capabilities of this wonderful camera as well as the art of photography with you and a few other mentors as well as the inspiration of several very talented and creative people I hope to learn how to do justice to my subjects. Thank you for all your help and advice. as always I am open to critiques be they good or bad. You have the years of experience. I have an amazing piece of equipment and Nature's bounty all around. Incidentally, I no longer have the 35MM. Frankie says it's hers and she's gonna out shoot me! Isn't that great?

I sure do know about the cost of living staying up while wages aren't. My disability check and Frankie's salary are just barely enough to get by on. Laura started working last week and, while I hate to see her have to go to work, it's the only way she'll be able to go to college. She can get free tuition and books at the community college but she'll have to pay for her last 2 years to get her teaching credentials. Next year, when she turns 18, my monthly disability check will drop by 33% so we'll really have it tough! When my government career went down the tubes, thanks to that moron Bush, we used the reimbursement fro my pension contributions to move up here where the cost of living is lower than Virginia Beach and I bought our mobile home outright for cash. It's nothing fancy but it's paid off. So is Frankie's Jeep and my truck has 10 payments left. No matter what happens to the economy we know we'll have a roof over our heads and transportation even if I have to rob a gas station to fill the tank. We can always grow food like the old timers did and there's a LOT of venison roaming around.

My mom's house cost $19,000 new in 1962. It was appraised last year at $310,000. There are lots of homes in the $500K to $1 million plus range.

Man, I wish you could go too. We'd have a ball, wear out some battery packs and SD cards and I could learn a ton! Just to give you an idea of what I'll be up against, Virginia Beach annexed Princess Anne County in 1963 and became the largest resort city on the East Coast. There are 27 MILES of beach, over 300 lakes, a resort strip that is 30 odd blocks long and 2 wide, clubs, museums, historical locations such as the site of the first English settler's landing at Cape Henry, the oldest brick house in North America A US Navy master jet base (you can get up close and personal with an F/A18 on short final from outside the fence, Jamestown and Williamsburg are an hour away, the NASA Research Center is in Hampton, theme parks....I can't go on....I'm getting homesick. Just Google Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads.

Believe me, spend 8 hours on a life guard stand staring at the ocean on a clear day and you learn all about how polarized lenses kill reflection! I realize it will be different with a camera lens and I will have to experiment to get the hang of it. I'll be doing a lot of experimentation to get the feel of the camera as well. That's why I ordered two 8GB SD cards. Just going out and shooting off the top of that mountain yesterday I shot 53 frames and only kept 9! I mainly want that polarizing filter for the stuffed bikinis at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach. All that sand and water in the full sunlight will need some taming.

That's what I was thinking, Horst. A UV lens for everyday shots and the polarized for bright daytime shots. I've never used a polarized camera lens but have had several pairs of polarized sun glasses over the years and was always impressed with how much better I could see with them on. My ophthalmologist says that probably helped slow the damage to my vision. I've spent a lot of time on the beach over the years and the sun reflecting off all that white sand was brutal without a good pair of shades!

Thanks for the advice Horst. The lens that came with the camera has an image stabilizer built into it and I think I'll get a polarized filter for that one, The other 2 will get UV filters and I'll get a good too. My buddy's wife runs a Ritz Camera in Norfolk, right across the city line on Virginia Beach Blvd. so I'll drop in to visit her and get a good deal. She sold me my big lens a couple of years back at a steep discount.

Sorry for bailing on you Horst. I had some drops put in my eyes for a few tests today and I developed a splitting headache. Couldn't stand looking at the monitor anymore. Yep, we're going to the beach but I'll be staying out of the sun as much as I can. My medications make me sensitive to too much sun so I'll be the old fart under the umbrella with the huge lens on his camera. First off will be a trip to Ritz Camera for a 52,55 and 58MM UV filters and a lens hood for my long lens. I keep seeing polarized filters. What do you think about one for my image stabilizer lens (the new one)?

That's where the manuals for both of mine are and I have a smaller pocket guide for the new one.

Chip, I carry my manual in my camera bag. If I forget some function than I always have the manual. I am never without it.
I thought you would love the new camera. I really love mine even thought it is only 6.2 megapixels.

If I wasn't such a sissy I would have stayed up there but I was alone and concerned about getting down off that mountain in one piece. It's 1500 feet higher that where we live.

The camera is fabulous. I'll be carrying the manual everywhere I go because it has scores of functions available. It's going to take me months to get all of them memorized! We'll be home the end of this week and I'm going to get 3 UV filters, one for each lens, and leave them in place, even when I'm not using them. Thanks for the great tip.

Expect loads of beach shots after the 23rd. Mom doesn't have Internet access, my ISP doesn't offer dial up and all the wireless hubs in the neighborhood are secured, or they were at Christmas.

Hey Horst, I didn't use any filters on that shot; just the sun going down to my right and a thunderhead moving up the valley behind me. I was at 3.700 feet elevation in a parking lot.

I have some 4x5 negs that I am trying to scan into the computer....any suggestions on how to get a decent scan??? So far, results are hit and miss....and nothing like what I really want. You can see one image in my latest blog.

Horst, I ready to defect and become a Canadian! I used to live in the Chicago area and it has spread all the way to the Wisconsin border. Unbelievable! Also, I love to go to Toronto, one of my favorite cities in the world, but talk about sprawl.......subdivision after subdivision.....farmlands are disappearing and to make matters worse, they build the houses too close together. You can literally lay down lenghtwise between the houses and stretch your arms over your head touching the neighbors home. I've never been to Alberta, but I am sure it nothing like Toronto. Vancouver is probably more like Toronto. SC is very rural but overly much so. I miss Wisconsin, it wasn't so bad there.

Hi Horst, Interesting take on the city building from afar. With the current construction, it looks as though the city might be growing. Urban sprawl...what a bad thing.