Dickie Gamble

1. Set the lens as far as possible to the telephoto side (200-300mm)

2. Select the Av exposure mode and keep the aperture open.

3. Choose natural elements as a background (flowers, leaves, etc.).

4. Get as close to the subject as possible.

5. Find ideal framing and angle while checking shots through the LCD monitor.

Here is an example shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D

 (Auto mode, shutter speed 1/500, Aperture 8.0, ISO 100 and focal lenght 200mm)

Here’s a picture I took last evening of a sunset from my bedroom window. The camera settings were on manual mode with a shutter speed of 1/4  F5.0. I thinks so but I played a lot with the settings that I may be a bit off with those values. Anyway if the result is good and you agree with me then I am happy. I shot only the tree tops to avoid some electrical wires that would have messed the picture. It is also interesting to see that even without using a flash, you can achieve an interesting picture.

Fast moving subject, slow background

How can you get good panning shots? What is panning?

Panning refers to the horizontal movement or rotation of a still camera, or the scanning of a subject horizontally on video or a display device. Panning a camera results in a motion similar to that of someone shaking their head “no”.

If you know the optimal setting, panning techniques can get better results. Here’s one example on a Canon EOS 50D camera:

1. Turn the IS (Image Stabiliser) on and select IS Mode 2.

2. To improve your succes, shoot at around 100-200mm (rather than an extreme 300mm telephoto setting).

3. Select the camera Tv exposure mode and 1/60 sec. shutter speed. Select Al Servo AF as the autofocus mode.

4. While keeping the moving subject in the viewfinder, press the shutter button halfway down and hold.

5. Then, at the right moment, press the shutter button all the way down to take the shot while continuing to follow the subject. Keep using this technique while taking several photos.

Go ahead! Impress yourself with panning shots like a pro.

 Our first tulip. Pictures taken with my Canon Powershot S5IS

Camera settings (Manual 1/100 F8.0 ISO 100 in Super Macro mode)

Click on picture to enlarge. This little camera even with it’s 8 Megapixels provides a lot of details.

We (my wife and I) spent some time cross country skiing on Saturday. We enjoy doing this sport that has many benefits. It’s a chance to enjoy a peaceful setting in nature, far from city pollution. It’s also a great opportunity to view wildlife, seeing birds and small animals up close.

This is a picture of my lovely wife Louise who is always ahead of me, waiting for me. Well I was taking the pictures so it takes time to remove my gloves and grab my camera (Canon PowerShot S5IS). We went cross-country skiing at a place called “Ti-Jean”. We skied for a distance of 8km. It took us about 1.5hrs. The sky was cloudy but the temperature was around -5 Celsius which was perfect for this winter sport. 

  Continue reading An afternoon outside Cross country skiing

In February of 2004 I had a stiff muscle in my neck. When I started massaging it I felt a lump the size of a big olive and very hard, just above my clavicle (small shoulder bone). That was on the right side of my neck. I knew something was wrong. The good news was that I had my six month doctor’s appointment scheduled during that week. When my doctor asked how things were going she knew something was wrong by the way I looked at her. I told her that I felt a lump in my neck. She examined me and knew right away that was a swollen lymph node. Immediately she started booking all kinds of scans and told me that I must consult an ORL doctor to undergo a biopsy. Oh Boy!!! The nightmare was back!!!

Continue reading My story dealing with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma part-2

Here is my story,

I am not a Doctor and don’t have any medical training but I would like to share my story that hopefully can help someone who might have or had the same condition I had.

In the summer of 2001 I noticed that I had a strange looking stain on my skin. On my left pectoral to be more accurate. It looked like a blood vessel or vein. At that time I taught it was probably normal that a blood vessel was growing there since I was working out three times a week. I kept on comparing my chest with pictures of body builders in the magazines to convince myself that this was normal to see veins on the chest like those guys did when they trained hard. By the end of the summer this skin stain faded away.

Continue reading My story dealing with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma part-1