Twice Around the Clock

Twenty thousand frames! Wow I usually don’t like to do anything I like (or anything else) that many times but the experience has been quite fun. But this last month I rolled the image counter over for the second time while shooting horses at Santa Anita Racetrack.

So I decided to use this milestone as a chance to reflect on my DS ownership.

I’m approaching 2 years of DS ownership: Zero problems (Thanks Pentax!)
I own 2 cameras: my DS & a tiny Sony P&S
I’ve bought 12 lenses since I got my DS.
I’ve sold 6 lenses with 1 more on the selling block.
I’ve borrowed 3 lenses from a family member.
I rotate through 5 sets of NiMH batteries (flash included)
I use 3 SD cards.
I’ve cleaned my sensor with a swab just once.
I’m on my second camera bag and I just bought a photo vest.
I have over 700 images on Pbase.
I am very proud of the 43 images in my Best of ’06 gallery
I just bought a domain name (a little piece of the WWW that’s my very own)
I’ve joined 2 local photo groups to go out and shoot.
I have many new friends (local & online) who share my passion for photography.
I gave away a photo calendar to friends with my best stuff from ’05.
I’ve explored and attended countless places & events that I would have never been to without my camera.
I've made a couple of perfect strangers happy by taking their photos and emailing it to them.
I’m 32 weeks into my Photo A Week project.
And started this cool little blog along the way.

The Most Important Lenses

The Most Important Lenses for Photography

The best & most important lens to have... the one that sits on your nose!

Go see your eye doctor for a check up every now and then. Your eyesight is critical for manually focusing, checking DOF and also for post processing properly on the computer. You can have the best most expensive body & lenses but if your eyesight is slightly off, your photos will be too.

As photographers, we spend too much time & money on photo equipment to not pay attention to the health of your eyes.

Welcome to the Trapped Light Blog

Welcome to the Trapped Light Blog.

This blog has been created to share my thoughts & ideas. Most will pertain to photography which is my passion, but occassionally I'll wonder off topic.

I'm just a regular guy. I live in Los Angeles with the Future Missus. I love to spend taking photos with my friends and sometimes wondering on my own. As part of the LA Shooters Photography group & the SoCal DSLR group, I regularly join them for photo shoots. Those shoots are usually outdoors at various locations. In fact the irregularity of the shoots is something that keeps me constantly testing new techniques & methods, helping me improve.

I've been shooting digital photos for about 4 years now. I've bought & sold about 6 Point & Shoot digicams before I bought my Pentax *ist DS DSLR. About 2 years & over 20,000 frames now, the DS has provided me with stellar performance and I'm extremely happy with it.

I'm also a regular at the Pentax SLR Talk on DPReview. I find this is the single best source of information about Pentax DSLRs and its really a pleasure to discuss photography with this fine group.

Anyways, I hope this blog becomes a source of useful information and helpful for all.

Al