My Lowepro Bag Has Arrived

My Lowepro bag that I won on E-bay arrived today. I got a serious deal on this bag. I paid $62.00 for mine and the price tag on the bag says 170.00. I already have several Lowepro items and I must say that I am very impressed with their products. The fabric is a tough, quality fabric and the bag has lots of storage and cushioning. This bag is made to carry 2 DSLR cameras plus 3-5 lenses and at least one large flash. It has has several removable side bags for extra storage.










The picture below shows my Nikon D40 with the Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens still attached to the camera. I also have the Nikkor 18-55mm lens, my SB 400 flash and my Canon HV20 video camera in the bag. As you can see my future Nikon D300, Nikon SB800 flash and a couple of new lenses will fit just fine.

Is This A Beating Or What!!??

Well here is the evidence shot sent to me by Iceman. He was having a bad game and threw a few too many interceptions. During this game I finally got down some of the offensive and defensive controls and LAID THE SMACK DOWN!!!!!!

Thanks Nana Lisa!!!!

My Nana Lisa just buys me the cutest clothes. Here I am modeling my Baby Gap outfit. I sure am hot!! We went to Carrabba's tonight for dinner and there were two separate couples that came over to our table and told my Dad and Mom that I was such a cute little baby.

Baby Got Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Funny Photoshop Video.

This is part three of the series. Warning don't play this around the young ones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWn0lxRNqos&feature=related

A Few More Christmas Pictures.

Midwest Christmas Trip!

We have just returned from our Midwest Christmas trip. We had a great time visiting will family and friends and Jenna got to meet Cousin Cole and Isaac for the first time.

Perhaps we can talk Iceman into sending me a photo I took of our Madden 2008 match up on his Xbox 360. I got to use his new Nikon D300 and really love that camera.

First we had to get cleaned up courtesy of Nana's sink.


Then we had to meet big Cousin Cole.







Next up is Cousin Isaac who is very close in age.


I think Jenna approves.


The future front row of the Daytona 500.

Canon HV20 Filters have arrived.

I received the Hoya 43mm UV and CPL filters for my Canon HV20 today. These filters have the same great quality as the Hoya filters I use for my D40. The folks at http://www.2filter.com/ did a great job at getting them to me quickly. If you have an HD camcorder I highly suggest getting at least a UV filter to protect the front lens of the camcorder. If you scratch that lens, you have just cost yourself a tremendous amount of money versus scratching a UV filter that costs less than $20.00.

My Nikon SB-400 Arrived Today!!

I received my Nikon SB-400 flash as well as my Sony NI-MH batteries and charger that I had ordered from Amazon. Amazon must have read my blog or passed along my e-mail about the slow delivery time they were giving me and delivered everything 4 days early.

The flash, WOW!! The SB-400 is much better than the built in flash. The cycle time between shots is much faster with the 400. I also really like being able to bounce the flash now because the flash head pivots on the 400. Think of it as lighting a room with a lamp instead of a flashlight. The SB-400 is the perfect size for the Nikon D40. Another advantage that I have noticed is the lack of shadowing when shooting with the lens hood attached. This was really annoying with the stock flash. Here are a few shots. I will be posting more over the next several weeks as I have time to do comparison shots.

Nice Score On Ebay Today.

Today I won a Lowepro bag I have been looking at for a while. It is the Lowepro Compact AW. This bag will allow me to carry two Nikon DSLR's , plus several lenses, flashes and even the Canon HV20. I plan on using this when I really need to carry all of my gear for a special function or vacation. I am still looking for a small bag that I can use for one camera, several lenses and a flash.

Having Fun Today!

Funny Pictures

Yah Dad you try a bite of greenbeans.

My Lowepro bag is here.

My stuff arrived today from B&H. Wow that was fast. This is my second Lowepro bag and I must say that I am really impressed with the quality of their products. This is the bag I purchased. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/487284-REG/Lowepro_34994_Apex_110_AW_Shoulder.html

It is a great compact bag for just carrying my HD camcorder. It would be too small to really carry much else. As you can see from the pictures, there is not a lot of extra room in the bag.

Changed The Filters On My Nikon D40.

I have had a little time to do more in-depth research on my camera filters and decided to return the original Hoya filters I bought and get some Hoya Pro 1 Digital filters instead. While doing my research I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a great place to buy filters from. http://www.2filter.com/. There are several advantages to using them. They only sell filters and can answer just about any question you might have. They answer their own phones!! YAH!! You know I like that in a company. They ship your order promptly and they are located on the east coast. Their prices are also the best I was able to find. They offer a nice discount when you buy certain packages from them.

These new Pro 1 Digital Filters are Hoya's top of the line multi-coated lens filters. These were designed specifically for Digital SLR cameras. The kit I purchased came with one circular PL, one UV and a nice Lowepro filter bag. I also ordered a set of filters for the new Canon HV20.

Here are a few pictures.

Jenna Riding Her Snail.

Here are some pictures of Jenna riding her snail that Grandma Joan got her. She just loves this thing. Her favorite thing to do is grab onto the ears and start rocking!!!

The Canon HV20 Is Here.

Today our Canon HV20 arrived. I took some pictures for you shown below. I didn't really get a chance to do anything with it except charge the battery, take some pictures and of course order more accessories. Today I ordered a Lowepro bag, Hoya lens filters and several Panasonic master quality HD tapes. Buying this stuff used to be so easy, you just bought the main item and then you were done. Nowadays there are so many companies making excellent accessories that you can't just stop at the main item alone. I ordered my Lowepro bag and Panasonic tapes from http://www.bandhphoto.com/ I get a small discount with them and I was happy with the smooth ordering process I had the last time I used them.

Hilarious YouTube Photoshop video.

I stumbled across this funny Photoshop tutorial video on YouTube. This guy is funny.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VXeZ0s8DXZ0&feature=dir

Video Coming Soon!!!!!!

We should have some nice video of Jenna coming soon. We ordered a Canon HV20 High Definition Camcorder from Amazon. This is a very highly reviewed cam and has been named the top camcorder of 2007 by most review websites.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-HV20-Camcorder-Review.htm

Here are a couple of video reviews with good information.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gxLUIkhNtHU&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=txa9J84_YKc

I can't wait to see what I can do with some good editing software and this HD cam.

Baby Shots!

Dad could you hand me the remote please. It's time for cartoons.



Man these things sure do look tasty.



Dad this kid stuff is just so stressful! What am I supposed to do?

Amazon Rant For The Day

Add Amazon to the list of companies that have their call centers outside the U.S. I wanted to upgrade the shipping on my recently ordered SB-400 because it was taking forever with the free shipping option. I searched through their site and finally found a contact option via phone. They don't list a phone number just an option to have them call you. It is interesting, you tell them to call you now via a button and make sure your correct number is listed in the box and seconds later your phone rings. Then the frustration begins!!! It is very disappointing when large American companies farm out their call centers to foreign countries. The language barrier can be very frustrating and the smallest task can take forever. The young lady on the other end kept thinking I wanted to cancel my order instead of upgrading the shipping. I waisted 10 minutes trying to get this sorted out only to find out that it was too late to change anything even though the order still has not shipped out.

My Memory Card

Many of you have asked what card I use for my D 40. Here it is. A SanDisk Extreme III 2gb SD card. These cards are awesome. I have never had a problem with a SanDisk card. They just work!! This Extreme III card is built for speed with a 20mb read, write speed. They have a new card out the Extreme IV that has a 40mb read, write speed. I plan on picking up one of those in CF format when I get my D 300. If you shoot as many pictures as I do, a rock solid high speed card is a must.

If possible, here is my advice on buying a memory card. Buy from a reputable source off the Internet. I buy mine from Amazon. The local retail stores have a HUGE markup on these cards. I bought my last card for $37.49 from Amazon. Circuit City is selling the same card for $69.99. Now that is a nice fat profit margin. If you need one immediately, shop around at several different local stores. As I type this Best Buy has this card on sale for 45.00. That five minutes of research on the Internet just saved you $25.00.

Today's Pictures of Jenna

Just like my Mom I can't pass up the opportunity to check myself out in the mirror!!!