The pictures here come have come from 7 different cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T3, Sony A200, Nikon Coolpix 2100, Nikon FE, Nikon one-touch zoom, Olympus zoom wide 80, and a Kodak disposable underwater camera. Each of these cameras is discussed below.

I am currently using the Canon T3, an entry level digital SLR with 13 megapixel resolution. It was purchased in 2010 to replace my first DSLR which had been stolen. I usually have a Tamron 18-200mm lens on it, but use the kit EFS 18-55mm lens for specific situations where it has superior performance. Since most of my Sony accessories had been stolen with the camera, I wasn't tied to that brand and felt that the new Sony entry level cameras did not have the advantages which they had 2 years earlier. Contact me if you'd like details about the advantages and disadvantages of these cameras or the lenses.

The Sony A200 DSLR was purchased in 2008 to replace my 35mm film camera and I haven't used a film camera since. The Sony Alpha came with 10 megapixels resolution and a kit 18-70mm lens (35mm equivalent = 27-105). I chose this model because I liked the feel of it and the layout of the controls, and believed it was the best value among the entry level DSLRs at the time. I eventually replaced the kit lens with the same Tamron 18-200mm lens which I also purchased for the Canon T3.

Most of the pictures prior to 2008 were taken using color negative film and my trusty Nikon FE, a full-sized semi-automatic 35mm SLR bought around 1982. I had the lens equipped with a wonderful 28mm F2.8 Nikkor Lens and an inexpensive 70-210mm zoom. I always kept a skylight filter on the wide-angle lens (which probably did save the lens on the one occasion I dropped the camera) and occasionally used a polarizer. After one minor repair and a refurbishing, this camera was still going strong when I finally replaced it. I'd originally planned to use this camera for the rest of my life: it was built like a tank, the tiny battery would last 10-15 years, it could take pictures even when the battery was dead, it could take pictures just as good as the newest models, and it would've never become obsolete if it weren't for the introduction of digital photography.

My first compact digital camera was acquired in 2004, the Nikon Coolpix 2100 with 2.0 megapixels and 3X optical zoom. The Spiderwort photo from Shenandoah NP was taken using its macro focusing mode. I've still got it, but it's such a dinosaur now that it rarely gets any use.

The Olympus zoom wide 80 was a weatherproof compact 35mm camera with a 28mm to 80mm zoom. I purchased it in 1999 and would still be using it if the price on the more convenient compact digital cameras had not come down so drastically. It worked best with 400 ASA film or faster. My favorite picture taken with this camera is the one of Queens Garden at Bryce Canyon NP.

My Nikon one-touch zoom was a compact 35mm camera with fixed focal lengths of 35 and 70mm. I bought that in 1987 and retired it in 1999 when it started acting flaky. The 3 pictures from inside the Grand Canyon and some of the pictures from Olympic National Park, Colorado, and Kauai were taken with this camera. The one black-and-white photo from the Grand Canyon is the only film photo I took which didn't use color negative film.

The picture from Virgin Islands National Park was taken with a disposable Kodak underwater camera loaded with 800 ASA film. The above water pictures came out quite nice, but even in strong sunlight the underwater shots did not have much color to them.

When using film, the photos were scanned from prints on an HP ScanJet 4c. All of the images were adjusted, sized and saved in JPEG format using Corel Photo-Paint 7 at first, then Adobe Photoshop 6.0, and now Adobe Photoshop Elements 10. I have rescanned and reprocessed some of the older photographs, but would eventually like to replace all of the images which were originally published when bandwidth was at a premium and it was desirable to keep the images as small as possible.

Whenever I adjust contrast or colors, it is always to try to make the photograph as realistic as possible. I usually avoid any significant cropping of the image, preferring to use the composition I created when taking the photo (many of the wildlife and flower photographs are exceptions, however). There are several panamora shots which were created by knitting 2 or more photos together, doing this manually at first but then using PanoramaMaker 3.0. There is also a shot from the Badlands where I combined two photos from the same spot in order to get the maximum depth-of-field.

In only one photo did I actually remove something - this picture of Hurricane Ridge originally had an RV which was positioned so as to appear to be emerging uncomfortably from the rear of the deer (it's amazing how you can completely miss this when taking the photo).

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©1997-2011 by Robert Cantor