COOL AND COLD

It is very cold here in The Dalles. Incredibly Portland is warmer but has more snow then we do right now. That is usually the other way around. We can get several feet of snow, unlike Portland. So far it's just a light dusting. This leaf was outside after a small ice storm we had. I used my flash to capture it like this the wind blew it over and froze it solid before it bent back. Be sure to click on these for a better view--to come back to my website, use your Browser arrow in the top left hand side of your screen or this window.

Even though the most difficult times outside, my grandma and even my dad can keep orchids blooming. My grandma should be given an honorary PhD. If we could get her to the moon, she could grow a garden on it.

The lighting plays awesome effects out here I have shown many times before. But I still never get used to it. Countless landscape views change the view from the same spot in incredible ways. I am sure I have not seen them all yet. I have made several DVD movies done with time lapse pictures showing the weather change over an entire half day or so in just a couple of minuets but I have not yet found a way to put my movies on my website.

Ice was all over everything that had started to turn green. We had about three days after new years that felt like April. It was getting well into the 50s if not higher. Then--after I got a nice lawn growing, everything froze solid.
These leaves were caught in the cold wind. Every bit of watter in the air froze and it dropped below 12 degrees. It took nearly a ski-outfit to get these shots. I was glad to see my new digital SLR could put up with the temperature and wind-chill. My fingers even with gloves eventually forced me back inside.

More shots of the growing ice. It reminds me of crystals I grew when I was a kid with a chemistry set.
Frozen water clings to the rock cliffs that line the Columbia Gorge. This cliff is one of the tallest and closest to the road here.
My neighbor's fence post collected moisture and grew tiny ice crystals in the serious windchill.

If you click on this picture to zoom in, you might see the ridge line better. This is one of several versions and tries in this unique shot. Very thick clouds let me shoot the sun behind the clouds. I warn people not to directly target the sun as it can damage the CCD in your camera. The ridge line has trees on it and can just be seen. Some of the most expensive homes here are up there.

Things are not quite what they seem in this picture. Can you figure out how I did it?

Here is another copy of the ridge line sun taken at a slightly different time. The clouds now cover the sky. I played with the white balance to get this frighting color.

A very high aperture setting at a very high ISO with my new EOS DSLR let me see near and far in this shot. It's real--not Photo shop add-in background or something. I can't remember but this shot was probably done around F22. My new lens can shoot to f36 so smaller bugs are going to look better when it warms up. Spider and insect hunting is just fun! This shot brings back memories of myself as a kid when I had rows of jars on our deck in Hawaii. Most of them time it was catch and release even when I was a kid. I caught this guy and put him in jail for running around in my house. A wandering male sheet web spider, he would die in here eventually so I let him go after I took some pictures.

This tiny spider has survived in my bathroom for nearly six months now. She lives under the synk and if it were not for me looking I'd never have seen her. She's a tiny thing, only about 4mm. She has done well being able to catch the occasional silverfish or fly that comes into the bathroom. She may live through the winter as some of my Daddy long legs in the basement can do. If left un-disturbed spiders can go for a long time without food. She's harmless and her web is so small that if it were not for my eye she would never have been seen at all.
THE BIRDS
I got this shot with my first DSLR and it's excellent 150mm lens (300mm 35mm equiv.). I had to stand in the cold and not move for a long while to get this close because these birds are truly bread to be terrified of people. Years of BB gun shooting has made them flock and you really need a 600mm scope to get a good enough closeup unless you hide or move very carefully. They will fly off even if I approach from over 30ft away.

The same is true for the Blue bird. Birds that are otherwise in other places very easy to photograph are very hard here. I was lucky even though this one was about 40ft from me.

Finally he flies off--showing at a zoom out once again with my "full frame" DSLR (120 style frame) I was able to get an interesting bird I have not seen here before. It's in front of the bluebird in the background. I have no idea what kind of bird it is but there is allot of them. They may be here for the winter.

THERE IS NO LONGER AN "ALL PICTURES"
This is important because I told everybody to look for "all pictures" to see my entire site. Now that it is converted it is easy to see how you can view my website and it's pictures they are in the archives, easy to see now. It is self-explanatory now--don't forget to take a look there-you won't regret it.

I can only put about 100 pictures in the "front page" after that--all those pictures from months and years back have to go to the Archives. This has nothing to do with how good they are or anything. This site works like a diary with new additions over old every time.

I have recently made some serious changes to my website. Using the automatic template system I finally got my e-mail me button and my site meter setup with my uncle Ron's help. I have gone for a while without adding pictures, I know. I can only put up pictures when I have the time and energy. Don't think I forgot my website! My trip to Guam and probably Bali will be one of a lifetime. I am very afraid of for my gear, but it will take a while.

NEW CANON EOS Digital WIDE angle shots

Christmas came and went this year on fast-forward for me. I shot this picture exactly how I found it on a walk here. To me it is the appropriate conclusion to the difficulties and waste many people go through during the Christmas fever and rush. And how fast it crashes. From the waste to the stress--Christmas has truly lost much of its real meaning. I thank my family for the phone calls, offers to come over, and stopping by to bring me some good food and help. Christmas is not about spending gobs of money and people getting so stressed out they need Zanex or Clonazepam just to get through it. I chose to spend it alone on purpose for the first time. It also worked out best for my family due to snow here. I always wanted to spend it alone to step back from it all and by watching TV learn more about the real story through all those documentaries I have missed every year.

"Small Change"
And so the year has changed. Big deal. New years was a Liam fireworks display out here. For the 4th they have two huge shows visible. They don't seem to care much about new years. Just after new years I a new Digital SLR. It has me enabled me to reach a new level of creativity with it's wide format. And it's packed full of power, features and refinements as well as it's flexibility and durability it was worth going for some time without eating if I had to! Na--it was not that bad. I have not been able to afford any more lenses yet but it's a Canon EOS so there are tons of relatively inexpensive choices. The one I got is well-capable of being outfitted with the right system the same way I have shot most of my macro shots on my website. Even better--I can shoot at F36 with this lens --when I can find some insects and spiders they will have more depth of focus due to depth of field. I am counting my many blessings and money this year. In my situation to have an interest like this is a serious blessing. My family and photography saved my life.
Make sure to click on this one to see larger view. I have shot many pictures from this place, but my new wide format camera let me really take it all in. In black and white pictures it is far more easy to get away with bringing up areas that are very dark in contrast to very brightly lit areas. Sometimes it seems that's the only way to present a good picture when the contrast between light and dark subjects in the same image are very difficult to control. White balance factors make the colors very difficult to match well. It is one way without using lots of software to make nice images with such large contrasts very easy. Just use Levels, and possibly Shadows and Highlights in Photoshop (I think in any version)


As an artist I am told not to be excited about my own work openly. But this shot really was a lucky hit and I'm proud of it. I nearly captured the entire Dalles from a fast moving van through the window as a snapshot set at a high shutter speed. I had no time to think and managed to get this image before it got blocked as we drove my homes and trees. I got off just one shot. The Columbia river is obviously what runs through the picture. One side is The Dalles and Oregon (on the left here) and the other is Washington state (Dallesport).

VIEWS OF THE DALLES AND RECENT STUFF

"Whitewash"
Just walking in The Dalles if your bold--you can find all kinds of things and situations that almost seem put together for you.


"Plasma" --I built this plasma display a couple of years ago (argon light bulb used here)

The rest of these pictures are about The Dalles. I had to test out my new digital SLR and decided to run my plasma display. I built it myself. I have over 3 years advanced electronics training and 15 years of tinkering with things and fixing things seriously. I will not tell anyone how to do this unless they have the appropriate knowledge. It's just too dangerous. My friends bug me about this one---I won't build them one. That's how dangerous this is. I am a trained electronics technician. I have been working with electronics for many needed reasons since I was a little kid. In it I learned a great deal which like learning another language gave me the power to understand engineering and how things really work.

Did this hurt?
Only a little tingle and heat. The inert gas makes the current ark far further into plasma. If I touched the wire leading to the bulb--I would have 3rd degree burns. Small but extremely painful. I had a scar for nearly 7 years after I got bit by a lower-voltage line then this one. Please, get seriously educated before trying to repair or take apart any electronic device.
edge.



If you asked me my three loves. It would be Woman, spider pictures, and HIGH VOLTAGE! This is an Argiope sp. (I actually have the exact name for this spider but I've got to dig it up. I have a full comprehensive line of shots of this spider from all angles I will post more later. She was in a weird place at just the right time and I like to hope she layed an egg to pass on her kind in this neighborhood. The largest spider living in San Jose. She's virtually harmless. Don't invite trouble but there is no reason to fear or harm this species if you see one. They are big for garden spiders with a leg span of about 2 inches. Body 15mm+/- female (as seen here full grow and ready to pop with her egg sack.)

The Dalles can have some hard winters. This was taken a couple of years ago. I ran around in the coldest cold with a mini-tripod shooting long exposures until I nearly got frostbite. I sometimes go to very painful extremes. The picture is easy to look at, but remember "that guy behind the lens" the photographer--is holding the camera, re-shooting if needed, and sometimes playing a contortionist trying to keep a shot in serious physical pain. Most people don't ever think about what photographers go through to bring in new pictures! I walk for miles and hold things until tears come to my eyes sometimes pushing myself a bit too far because I always want to get my shot. This night was really hard because these were long exposures and it was so cold I thought my camera would break or stop working.



Another view from my secret spot. You can see two mountains from where I live. I'm too lazy to confirm but I think this is Mt. Rainer.



The morning started and I setup the first shots. Controlling the ISO, shutter and focus I balanced the image and got the incredible sight. The sunrises here can look like the gateway to Heaven or something.

Back to the spiders, here is the side that makes her easy to identify. Argiopes can quickly be told apart by there abdominal markings. This spiders common name is "Zebra spider" for obvious reasons. Argiopes are also called "ZigZag spiders for the patterns they sometimes make in the center of there webs that are believed to be a kind of camouflage.


Now the sun goes down and my settings locked on---this image surprisingly has not been edited very much. It's vivid colors were an effect of the snow and lighting angles. This was a catch. The Ridges give me less then a 20min window to catch shots like this and the sunrise shots.

This one I messed with a bit. This is from the same street on a walk around The Dalles I did. The snow caps are still holding on at highest points. According to my GPS those mountains are at least 4 miles away. They are far larger then they often appere. Now watch that tree right on the RIGHT SIDE--that fat pine near the roof that is partially cut off. That is the same pine you can see on the left hand side of the image below. These pictures are from the same place at about the same zoom. This shows the contrast between weather here! (Same tree in the picture below can be seen on the left hand side this time)

"WHITEOUT WAVE"
Usually those same mountains in the picture above this one are easy to see. One morning I happened to be outside and notice after it had snowed there was a wall of weather like nothing I ever saw here. This is straight off the camera the view completely blocked by a wave of snow. As I say I take allot of pride and save time in taking good manual pictures on site rather then work with them for hours in Photoshop. This is from the SAME SPOT as noted above. I have made several time-laps videos of clouds and formations. I have yet to figure out how to post videos on my website unfortunately.

The Dalles industrial area taken with my mended 600mm lens system. I am proud I was able to fix that lens so that I am at least capable of using it still. I placed a plastic edge as an "aperture plug" after the lens was damaged. I removed it's aperture components and replace them with a very carefully cut plastic plug with a hole drilled carefully into the center. This provides a fixed aperture but I can make another one for the next aperture. This is digital meets old-school here through the adapter I built for my first digital SLR. Building one for my new system will require another old or broken lens. It needed to have an aperture value as the lens goes through bellows to focus. A full-wide view creates serious distortions so I cut the plug guessing it's got a value of about F8.


This is a somewhat secret spot of mine. It is well within walking distance from my house. From here--I finally got back and I was able to get a full 360 view! This was incredible. I live for times like this. I have tons more pictures of getting to the top of this private driveway. It is the best place you can go in The Dalles and I got there on a cold but very clear day. I shot video and tons of stills.
From the same road another view of the mountains across the Colombia river. These are over 4 miles away at there base. I'd have to check my GPS to know exactly how far. But these are not just hills!
This image was not modified! There is window of about 15min to shoot in the morning if you get up early at the right spot. Sunrise in The Dalles can become golden and incredible. High-res Relatively high clouds make for an incredible refection. My white balance was set for regular sunlight shots.
Another view from that same favorite place. The old Church is a Catholic building as I read, it's very old. A mission built in the 19th century if I recall. It is currently not in use.


And here, from the same spot I zoom out into The bridge and The Dalles dam. The Columbia river generates allot of power. But I am glad I use a laptop--we have more short-time power failures here then in some developing countries I have been too!

"Cold Fog"
One night I wanted to test my new digital SLR so went outside and setup a long exposure at a very high ISO. Fog made for this effect.

Another in the Sunrise sequence. I am not always sure which ones I want to post. This is straight from the camera. I only downsized it and added my name.


Sunrise looks like sunset. I got lucky to see this and get outside in the cold fast enough to get these shots.

More views of this Beautiful spider. I hope she lays eggs here. She was in a very odd place. On a shrub she must have grown up there by ballooning as young spider. The houses and yards are well manicured. If you see a spider like this--head the old European poem, "If you wish to live and thrive, let a spider run alive". Spiders control insects for us. Dangerous and harmful ones. I have been bitten by this species close relatives several times. It's not even as bad as a bee sting. They are not dangerous but you should never pick up or handle spiders like this. Not only is there a slight risk of being bit but destroying her web could leave her in bad shape. They have to save energy. I was proud to had shot all these angles without disturbing or moving her at all.

I am most proud about these pictures because I took every one of them from a distance and carefully so as to not disturb her. I did not even move her web around. These are all camera angles and me watching her for about two hours taking pictures when she moved.

My grandma is growing orchids like this in the middle of winter. She should have a PHD. I have some really good orchid shots I have to find. My grandma can grow anything. They should set her up for pioneering on the moon. If they could get her there, she could grow anything!

IMPORTANT: To my complete surprise there is another Gabe Beasley out there! He's apparently a high-school student. My family has about a dozen members on that side but my the family name is very large. We may be related but if so it may also be very distant. This being so--I am marking my work with Gabe W. Beasley. My name-double is apparently an honor student currently in high school. Good for him. But I am 27 and class of 1996 so I don't want things mixed up here.

AN INCREDIBLE TRIP -- HIGHLIGHTS

Recently I took another trip down to see some family in California. My dad and family have been very generous to let me stay there as a way to get away from The Dalles for a while whenever I can. I even had a good time on the way back taking these pictures which would highlight my trip. Your going to have to wait for the next spider. When I do have that footage processed and I'm done with compiling the huge number of pictures--it will be a new series of spider shots like nothing I've ever shown you on this website! Keep coming back after the Holidays.

It was actually on my way back that I ran into some interesting winter scenes in Portland. On a walk in Cook Park, I shot pictures of many ferns and notice the lack of undergrowth which is usually present. This might be due to a recent river flood, I am not sure. Don't forget to click on the image for a larger picture and don't forget how to GET BACK with your back arrow located at the top left hand corner of your screen (the one you use to go back in any Internet situation)

My uncle Ron, a fellow photographer and mentor feeds a Squirrel which grabs the food and makes a hasty retreat. As in most of my pictures, the motion blur here is entirely real and not computer created.

Ferns naturally grow where they can, all the way up this tree-trunk. I have several other pictures and "tree-scapes". Some of which I want to get posted in a local art gallery. Some of my pictures will be up for sale if all goes well in The Dalles here in the next few months in a local gallery. I am not sure as yet when or how this will work. Some friends of mine and family are plan to help me with this.

A new tree breaks first light in the forest floor.

Being up in the mountains on the way back there was allot to think about shooting. My mind was mostly on a recent re-discovery of my photographic philosophy (as is shown in the above 35mm post). I was taking way too many pictures and I accidentally stepped back to 35mm and re-understand certain things. The limits of 35mm define what might sometimes be far better art. I admit I have a hard time dealing with thousands of anything, or even 100s. Taking that many pictures just drags out a backlog impossible to work with. I learned that each picture has a life of it's own. Each picture has a trait that is not perfect and that might define it as art. The drive for perfection in digital photography at least for me has caused me to sometimes waste my time in frustration and computer space. In my opinion, art is not a subject in which perfection rarely if ever, exists. I take one or two shots and hope they turn out fine rather then 20 when I am using my digital SLR now. There is another reason why shooting many pictures is a problem--shutters can ware-out in digital SLRs allot faster because of overuse. The ware and tear on them can be massive times more then what it would be in a standard film SLR. Think about how many more pictures you take if you started with film and now shoot digital. I find sometimes it is far more rewarding to get one good but "imperfect" shot then to get 1000 pictures with most of the good shots so buried or so over-shot and stuck in my computer files I forget about them or give up frustrated and put off. The excitement I used to have from one roll of film I had forgotten until recently. I now shoot digital as much like that as often as I think of it.

I have never got anything like this before. I may post some of the San Francisco shots later which are from some of the most photographed places in the world. Here is one that’s not! Incredible as it may seem, this image has hardly been digitally altered at all. This is how I saw it. I only brought up the levels a bit to show more of the foreground trees. I happened to snap it at just the right time having just the right manual settings. it was a very difficult shot due to lighting and the fact that I was on a train. The sunset was one of the most incredible I have ever seen.

We passed MT. Shasta (I'm 99% sure) on our way into Oregon. I caught this and several other shots with my digital SLR. I was not going to use it on this trip back but found it impossible to not due so when I found conditions were so good. Wind sweeps over making for clouds on the top of the mountain in an otherwise cloudless sky, an indication of how big this mountain really is.

My grandma, in the cold of winter, growing orchids as if it was more then very easy. I have many other shots and this was just a snapshot--at some point I will compile some more orchid shots--a number of them can be found under ALL PICTURES that I have taken in months passed. I shot these on my way back in November. My grandma deserves an honorary degree for this. She could grow an orchid on the moon.

In her small greenhouse she keep dozens of plants from orchids to cactus as seen here--alive and very well. I have many pictures. Write me an e-mail or comment if you want to see more.


OLD CAMERA TIPS--READ THIS IF YOU USE GEAR 25 OR MORE YEARS OLD
DOES YOUR OLD CAMERA HAVE A SCREW LOOSE?
Is a dial now nearly impossible to turn or so loose you can't use it anymore?

A SERIOUS note here: I recently had a disaster when the 1:4,5/135 macro lens for my bellows scope destroyed itself. It failed in the same way as my 120 medium format TLR camera, everything just went to hell all the sudden. I should note that this failure was NOT due to old-age. It is entirely true that an old camera that has taken millions of pictures and been through a long photo-life can and will experience all kinds of stresses and could break or cause malfunctions that are not reversible or practically fixable in today's market. The same is true for lenses and it's all due to many kinds of metal fatigue and just ware and tear. However, don't be so quick to call it "old junk".

It turns out that all of the screws connecting the lens to the aperture on my 135 bellows lens had worked themselves nearly completely loose. A while back I decided with nothing to loose to take apart my broken 120 TLR to try to fix it. I went against fears and used gun-oil on some of the components, and managed to rebuild it's entire lens connection system and even get the shutter working better. The pictures proved how well this worked. Blur to very nice and it stayed that way. This first alerted me to this problem of loose screws and the damage they can cause when you are trying to get a broken complex camera to work. Those tiny screws so small that most small sets of screwdrivers have hard time with. They are vital to many old lenses and cameras. When it gets cold metal and oil changes pressures in the screws and mechanisms. When you have used and rattled around an older lens that has not been used for a long time--the tiny screws that often connect the lens controls can become very loose which can cause the control to move out of aliment and damage the aperture or other parts of the lens or simply make it unable to work at all. I want to note here for anyone interested in low budget gear and needing it---CHECK THE TINY SCREWS.

If they are very loose and seem ready to fall out, it is certainly a serious problem and you should slightly and carefully tighten them. This however is very complex topic and operation as the lens may allready be out of alignment. Just don't let your screws get loose! Old camera gear is not necessarily junk or garbage. Sometimes it needs what amounts to a tune-up. After I dismantled most of the lens that let me shoot at 600mm (that 135) which had failed--I found this problem again to my horror. So it was not "old age" that devastated this lens.

So if you use older lenses--Pay attention to screws and slight changes in lenses. If you feel a pull or movement that gets tight or wrong--check everything out as much as you can. Trying to oil lenses on your own is a very dangerous thing to do. I have succeeded twice in both these problems with my TLR 120 that I nearly entirely re-built and re-celebrated it's lens screws myself. DO NOT PUT OIL INTO THE SHUTTER MECHANISMS!

Fact is, metal fatigue is not something I have observed in very old and overused SLRs. In even using very old lenses and cameras my choices to work on it rather then give up has played off. Despite being told I was wasting my time, I pressed to solve the mystery with my "135 lens" and found to much of my despair that this lens was damaging itself and that it was a preventable situation! The screws had became so loose and gone past there limits forcing the lens to not spin but not stop until it crunched the aperture together when I pushed it too hard thinking it was just cold weather making the oil hard. Had I known that these loose screws needed to be tightened as was in my success 120 TLR--it could have been prevented. Generally do not oil old lenses that is often at least so as I have seen, not the problem. If there is nothing to loose give drops very carefully so that it does not reach the lens OR the shutter mechanisms! Most of it--is not about oil at all. It's the lens and the screws working loose.

A SCREW LOOSE!
Old dials on cameras and radios fall off and spin for this same reasons. Especially it seems--in the cold. Over time keeping the screws tight with a good set of tiny screw-drivers (like those used for glasses) is an easy thing to do that will preserve many of your old lenses. You must be very careful just to lightly tighten them and NOT strip them. Many of them are easy to strip so be careful. My 1940s Cintar also had to be adjusted in the same way. I had to tighten it's screws and oil some of the largely external gearing which proved very successful. I used a generic gun-oil to do this. I DO NOT recommend WD/40 as it is very light and I've heard can actually cause rust. I then tightened the dial screws and controls--and when they were re-alighted the camera put out a perfect roll of film with no distortions. Just make sure that if you use oil--you be very careful where you drop it. Getting oil inside a camera lens that cannot be opened with normal tools is the end of the camera or lens. Most of all--check those tiny screws.

I'm talking here about 60 to about 25 or so year old gear and lenses here. Metal fatigue does happen but more often then not I run across not only camera gear but old radios and other collectable gear which has this same problem. There are no lock nuts that can be put in these screws so they naturally work loose--keep them tight and your camera may take pictures for a very long time more then you might expect.

Being on a low-budget I just had to track down the exact real cause of why my very important macro lens failed. I was not satisfied simply to say "it's just old junk--" and throw it in a junk pile. I am an optimistic person, and believed there was something else wrong here. Recalling what happened with my TLR 120--I took a look at this devastated lens and found that ALL of the 4 screws that held it together on one side and acted as a grip had become so loose that just touching them with the driver would move them! I found the cause of why it failed. It was not rust or over-use and "old age". Its screws were completely worked loose. Since I started using it they had allready been getting loose and by using it I accelerated the process. Cold weather can also seize up oils used in lenses needing those screws to be tight even more. The resulting loss may not be able to be repaired but it could have definitely been prevented. It was a sad loss, but a lesson learned. I do not give up or give into blind pessimism. In so doing I have learned a great deal. I am still very proud of myself for re-building and re-working my TLR. Sadly--this lens probably cannot be repaired even if I get the proper lens tool to get deeper inside it where I would need to "reset" everything. So in old gear if you use it--CHECK THOSE MINI-SCREWS!

AND DO NOT STORE OLD CAMERAS IN LEATHER CASES!
Like guns, cameras stored in leather cases are exposed to TANNIC ACID which EATS AWAY at the shutter and other intricate mechanical systems. If you keep an old camera (like an old Cintar) in it's leather case for years the damage can be severe. Keep cameras in leather cases only when on a trip while you are using them. The leather also sucks away even oil in the camera, so this is an important problem that also applies to lenses.


VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ
ALL PICTURES -- PLEASE DO NOT FORGET!
In order to see the some 500+ (I cannot count them very easy) pictures and articles in this website you have to click on the MONTHS under ALL PICTURES on the RIGHT HAND side of my website. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY to see the entire site. There are 100s of pictures of everything from more plants and flowers to incredible insects and landscapes. Please, do not forget that my website DOES NOT END AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE or the end of these pages--many people have missed 90% of my website thinking that this first scroll down page is all there is. If I put all my pictures on this page it would take a whole day to load my site on your computer! Please use ALL PICTURES to check out my stuff if you are interested in seeing more!

RANGEFINDER 35mm Konica AUTO-S

"A perfect catnap"
I decided to buy a used old Range finder camera called the Konica AUTO-S and was very surprised. Heads up light meter makes things easy and 1.9 manual makes this camera great for low-light even with 200iso film. Not only did it take good pictures, it taught me a lesson. My dad's cat.

"green thumb"
I have only had one roll processed, but in it these pictures were true to focus entirely. The camera is straight on and great at adjusting the aperture electronically. I believe I read somewhere that it was one of the first cameras to have this feature.

"Fear"
Sadly, as so often in this town--another vet I snapped with my Konica on the way to the bus station. There is a place I think they can get food here, but I understand it is a sad situation and often they get stuck in this town. His sign says "Homeless vet--Anything Helps--God Bless". I feel bad I had to drive by like this and could not give him anything because he clearly saw the camera.

Sunrise over The Dalles before I left. I shoot sun shots in 35mm more often to protect my sensor but recently read that pictures like this are not dangerous to modern digital cameras and video cameras unless you do long exposures or zoom into the sun. The first lesson this taught me--all these pictures being on the same 24exp roll--is that 35mm gives restrictions that make the joy of taking pictures almost better. That joy can exist with digital--but at least I realize I have to shoot like I am using a film camera. I limit my shots by shooting huge files and using small memory cards. It's not about 1000s of pictures. If you go on a trip and come back with the many shots---you get overwhelmed and might begin to loose interest or dread working on it. Even worse, it is easy to loose good shots. I am changing how I view pictures and thank recent constructive criticism about too many pictures of the same things. It's true. I have a tendency to take many pictures of something good when I finally got it--I only need one or two at the most. Not 20. Shooting at several frames per-second is only needed if your trying to catch that perfect shot from a moving vehicle or a moving subject like wildlife and birds.