I have uploaded two new Galleries of pictures from my recent trip to the Four Courner States and Nevadea. I shot these pictures with my new Canon 7D. Since the camera is brand new, I had to change my workflow, mostly because my version of Photoshop does not support it and Lightroom 3 Beta does not give me good results with white balance. I worked things out though and finally learned how to use Silkypix Pro (review coming).

Meanwhile, here are some galleries for you to enjoy.

The first Gallery is Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. This is a very diverse park with plenty of alien looking rock formations to explore. Had I known how much fun it was to explore this jewel, I would have come here sooner.

The second Gallery is Colorado National Monument. I have been in the vicinity twice before and couldn't make it here either. Colorado National Monument also was a pleasant surprise. Nearby parks in Utah overshadow this little pleasant park.

I am working on more galleries and some interesting blog posts. Meanwhile, enjoy these two.

With the new EOS 7D, Canon introduced a camera with APS-C sensor and positioned it above its previous top APS-C lineup, the XXD series. With this strategic move, Canon has once more the best available APS-C camera on the market. The 7D outshines all other crop factor cameras and even manages to score points against its more expensive full frame rivals. Canon manages the tightrope walk of combining some of the best features of APS-C cameras, such as more reach and a super fast shutter, with the superior image quality and resolution of full frame cameras through its advanced new CMOS sensor.

Learn the skills to get the shot, no matter how fast your subject moves.

In Part 1 of this tutorial, I explained the connection between Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO sensitivity. In this part, I will elaborate on some practical applications and show you how to set up your camera to achieve the effects you want.

Whether you want to freeze action or blur the lights of a car at night, motion is a primary concern of many shooters. Many questions I receive relate to motion. Some readers of Part 1 suggested that I continue my series, elaborating on different scenarios to help guide you through many possible photography scenarios you may encounter.

Freezing Motion in Action Shots

An example of a subject frozen in Motion is this photograph of a rock jumper in Maui.

Yesterday we went on a leisurely shoot in San Francisco. I have been on Pier 7 before, but I did not get the light I wanted. We decided that night shots would look perfect when the tungsten lamps illuminate the pier.

I decided to go black and white, as the extreme yellow of the lights conflicted with the blue/purple sky.

I took this image on the halfway point between the Embarcadero and the end of Pier 7. A wide-angle lens allowed me to include the Ferry Building and the Transamerica Pyramid.

I chose a small aperture and an exposure time of 30 seconds and manually focused my wide-angle lens to get the maximum depth of field. I lowered my tripod so that the camera would be slightly above my waist level.

The camera height let me shoot almost straight. When you point your camera up or down too much, you get projection distortion (except with tilt-and-shift lenses). This distortion is even more pronounced with wide-angle lenses.
 

The easy way of finding the best camera.

Trying to find the best-rated digital cameras online is a difficult task. I have finally found a good format to guide you through the maze and to the digital camera that is best for you.

I have created an interactive Mind Map to show you which digital camera to buy based on your requirements. You can manipulate the map and let it guide you toward a small selection of cameras that fit your needs:

Canon Rebel XSi - 450DMy Canon Rebel XSi field guide recently mutated into a bit of a support forum for Rebel XSi users and future XSi owners. I love it when my readers are guiding my writing with questions, answers and even corrections or additions to my articles.

One question that seems to plague a few of you is how to give your pictures some pop (one o!). Why do my pictures often look so colorful while your pictures sometimes look a bit flat or out of focus/blurry/not sharp enough/not crisp enough. Do you have a broken camera or are you missing some other magical button.

Learn what camera equipment you need for better photographs.

What’s on everyone’s mind

My readers often ask me if a certain camera model is good enough to take good photos or if I can recommend camera features that will make sure that the photographs look good.

Are 6 megapixels enough or do you need 12 or even 22 megapixels to take good photographs? Will you be comfortable with 3 manual modes or do you require endless menus and settings to be prepared for every possible scenario that may occur?

Can a point and shoot camera take good photographs too, or can this only be done with an SLR camera?

This article is part of a larger series on lens buying options.

Choosing the right lenses is still hard, even with all the technical facts at our disposal. How do the lenses behave in real life and why are lenses from some manufacturers cheaper?