White Kiss

Just got back from a couple weeks in Japan.

Without intending to do so, I still ended up growing the family.

While in Kyoto, we stopped by Pic Camera, and I discovered this lovely matching set:

The White Kiss X7 from Canon with a matching white EF40 F2.8 pancake lens

Awesome.

While in Japan we managed to see five UNESCO world heritage sites.

Expect pictures from the trip shortly.

Celebration calls for...

...a new lens.
So in celebration of accepting a position with a new company, which will involve frequent trips to West Africa, I went out in search of a nice telephoto lens.
And I had a few characteristics in mind:
1) It had to be as light as possible since I'd be lugging it around in my backpack with all my other things.
2) It had to be as small as possible - see 1)
3) I wanted it to reach as far as possible. I already have a 300mm and a 1.4 extender, giving me 420mm of reach, so I was hoping for something longer.
4) A zoom would be better than a prime since it would lower the risk of missing a photo op while spending time changing lenses.
5) Image stability would be an added bonus since I'd like to take shots without a mono or tripod.
With all that in mind, I found what I was looking for.
I found the Sigma APO 150mm - 500mm F5-6.3 OS.
Wicked.

The kids

BTW, I've updated the Transportation and the People galleries for the Suriname trip.

Back in town

...back from another trip down south.
...will post pics in the near future.
...for now, another photo of the stuff I use to, you know, take photos.

The New Fam

I couldn't fit the ringflash and the Metz...

Family Portrait 02 2010

The new family portrait.



Sorry about the quality.
It was taken with the assistance of a 3 year old point and shoot.

What a Difference a Year Makes

The family grows...

Pension Plan

Funny thing happened to me the other day. I received a letter giving me the options of what to do with the pension contributions from my last job. One of the options was to leave it with the same investors, who at that point had realized a whopping annual return of MINUS 20%. MINUS. Yeah, no thanks guys. Another option was to transfer it to another investor. Who I am sure would do just as well. And then there was option three. Receive the contributions, net of tax, in cash. Nice. Well, the cheque finally cleared the bank yesterday. And it was enough to pay for all my camera gear purchases from the last year, up to and including today...
...because today I happened into Henrys and got a pretty great deal on a 50D and grip kit.



Of everything in the picture, only the EF100 macro lens was NOT picked up in the last 6 months. And the sad thing is that my bohemian lifestyle is such that I would be happy paying rent for the next twenty years while amassing a horde of such playthings. Life is good.

ps...missing are my gripped xti, kit lens and tripod since they were used to take the picture.

Post Christmas Inventory

Note the DIY (do-it-yourself) flash diffuser...which I made from about $10 worth of stuff from Walmart and the templates from this site.

History

The old family

The xti
The short-back non USM 18-55
The non IS 75-300
The non IF non USM 100 macro
The plastic 50