We love to go diving in Cozumel because, for us, it’s  about  a 4 hour flight out of Denver and we are there!  You can catch flights in the morning and enjoy a beverage on  the beach at sunset that same day!  We have found the diving in Cozumel to be incomparable.  Even as we talk to people that dive all over the world, Cozumel is compared only to The Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Red Sea in Egypt as some of the most spectacular reefs and variety and size of sea life.The Iberostar is our choice because it is a great value for the money.  We are hooked on all-inclusive resorts and this meets our needs every time.  It’s close to the reefs so you don’t have 1 hour +/- boat rides to and from the dive sites.  Some are as close as 5 minutes straight out from the dock.  Their on-site dive shop – Dressel Divers  does a great job.  They have a very professional staff, nice boats, good equipment and are a joy to converse with as they are from all over the world. Read more at DCM Travel Reviews.

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Queen’s Canyon is located just north of  Garden of the Gods Park on 30th Street in Colorado Springs.  The trail head is on the private property of the Glen Eyrie Christian Camp and Conference Center and is a part of the Ministry of the Navigators.  Hiking is open to the public by advance reservation ONLY.  Hiking is only available Monday – Thursday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. This makes a beautiful hike in the spring, summer or fall and is only about a 2 mile hike round trip. Information and maps for hiking at Glen Eyrie.  The photos in this gallery were shot in Queen’s Canyon.

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Updated: August 14, 2010

Nikon D90 is the new replacement for the D80. Some of the high-end Nikons are staples of quality digital photography. One model in particular, though a little pricey for casual picture-takers, is a favorite among advanced amateurs and industry insiders: the Nikon D90.

The Nikon D90 is a 12.3 mega pixel digital camera with continuous shooting up to 4.5 frames per second. Pictures are taken in JPEG or 12-bit NEF (RAW) format. The camera has a low noise ISO sensitivity range from 200 to 3200. It has 5 scene modes, programmed, manual, aperture priority, shutter priority and automatic exposure mode settings.  It has manual and auto focus modes to ensure the full control of the photograph regardless of distance or lighting. There is a 3 inch LCD monitor, one button live view, image editing, and an automatic image sensor cleaner.   The hot new feature on this camera is that it shoots 720p HD movies at 24fps in motion JPEG format (first of its kind).

The Lenses

The Nikon D90 uses the full line of Nikon DX lenses along with many other Nikon and aftermarket lenses. I recommend you buy the best lenses you can afford. The lens is one the most important factors when it comes to image quality. Lenses have a life cycle of 10 years or more. Cameras have a shorter life cycle of between 3 to 5 years because of the fast moving technology. Because the lens life is so much longer than the camera, I recommend you put more emphasis on the lens quality than the camera. One more thing this is a very hi-tech camera and you should have the latest hi-tech lenses. The DX (APS-C) format sensor used on this camera, and most other D-SLR cameras, is smaller than the 35mm film or full frame FX sensor used on the Nikon D700, D3s and D3X. Therefore, quality ED (Extra Low Distortion) glass and VR (image stabilization) is very important to get the best images from D-SLR cameras with DX (APS-C) format sensor. There is one great advantage of the DX format. You can multiply the focal length by 1.5x making a 200mm lens equivalent to a 300mm lens in full frame 35mm or FX format.

The lenses I use and recommend for outdoor photography:

Nikon 12-24mm f/4G ED IF Autofocus DX Nikkor Zoom Lens

Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR Nikkor Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras

AF-S Zoom-NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR II telephoto

Nikon AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED Lens

And one on my wish list:

Nikon AF VR Zoom-NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Lens

The Nikon D90 uses SDHC SecureDigital High Capacity and SecureDigital (SD) memory cards not included. I recommend 2GB to 8GB class 6, high speed cards. The camera comes with A/V and USB cables, as well as an EN-EL3e Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, battery charger, strap, eyepiece cap, dust cap, body cap, LCD cover, CD-ROMs with Nikon software suite and manual. All of this hardware makes the camera sound like serious business, and it is. This is no child’s toy. The Nikon D90 stands at the point where digital cameras start to get expensive. Its users would pay a higher price still for such crisp, clear photographs and easy-to-use extra features. This is one camera that’s worth the cost.

The Battery

The rechargeable battery used in this camera is the EN-EL3e Lithium-ion proprietary battery, which for travel I recommend you buy 1 or 2 spares. The good news is the battery life is great with as many as 800 shots per charge. The price for the Nikon brand is about $50.00 US. The other option is after market batteries at a price of around $20.00 US at Batteries.com And B&H Photo video. I personally have used these batters and they work very well. For about $20.00 US they also have compact charger with flip out plug and automobile cigarette lighter adapter that is perfect for travel. See right side bar to link to these advertisers.

I recommend DVD video training for the Nikon D90 to get you up to speed fast with the operation of the camera. You can watch the video all the way through and then go back to view the areas where you need additional assistance. The training I recommend is Blue Crane Digital Nikon D90 Vol 1 & 2 .

A sturdy camera, the Nikon D90 weighs in at approx. 22oz. Its physical dimensions are 4.1in. x 5.2in. x 3in. (HxWxD), Users like the Nikon D90‘s natural feel. It fits right into the photographer’s hands and doesn’t feel clumsy or bulky.

Other Optional Accessories:

MB-D80 multi power battery pack: Holds 2 EN-EL3e or 6 AA Batteries

MC-DC2 remote cord: Shutter Release

GP-1 GPS unit: for live geotaging to image files

SB-600 AF speedlight unit: Flash

Or

Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight i-TTL Shoe Mount Flash

Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery

After Market Accessories:

Hoodman H-EyeN22S Hoodeye for Nikon square 22nn SLR Line

Hoodman H-LPP3 Hoodloupe 3.0 Professional 3 inch screen loupe

EN-EL3e AC/DC Compact Digital Camera Battery Charger

Nikon EN-EL3e Li-Ion Replacement Digital Camera Battery

SDHC Memory Cards

User sentiments are overwhelmingly positive. This camera is touted as the next step to the advance to pro photographer. When the serious advance Photographer sets out to take great pictures the Nikon D90 will be waiting for them. Customers insist that the camera is easy to use, even with all the extra features. You certainly don’t have to be a professional to take professional-quality photographs with the Nikon D90 digital camera.

The Nikon D90 sells for about $869US for the body only. It can be found online at B&H Photo Video Digital Camera and retailers or anywhere digital cameras are sold.

Nikon D90 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Other Nikon D-SLRs Cameras: D40 ,  D60 ,  D70 , D3000 ,  D5000 ,  D80 ,  D90 ,  D300 , D300s ,  D700 , D3 ,  D3s ,  D3X

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I just received my new Nikon D300s from B&H Photovideo last Friday, August 6 2010.  I’ll update this post and write a review in a couple of weeks after I try it out. In the mean time, enjoy this video from B&H Photovideo on the new Nikon D300s DSLR camera.

Nikon D300s
Rugged DSLR for stills and HD video

The Nikon D300s contains a 12.3Mp DX-format CMOS sensor, 920,000-dot Live View-enabled LCD, and can shoot stills at up to 7 frames-per-second.  Aside from stills, the Nikon D300s can also capture 720p video using any number of Nikon optics.

Nikon D300s w/ 18-200mm VR II Lens
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera Body
MB-D10 Multi-Power Battery Grip
Newsletter Article: Nikon’s D300s

The tools or functions listed below may or may not be on your camera. Check your camera’s manual to see if they are available.  If so, these tools can help you achieve better exposures even in default lighting situations.

RAW File Format

If available this is probably your first defense in better exposure but, it may require special software. Shoot in the RAW file format if possible.  RAW files have all the  information and will even have more detail in the shadows and highlights that are lost in the JPG file format. JPG files from your camera discards a lot of useful information that can help in post processing. This may save an otherwise  bad exposure.

Camera Histogram

Use the histogram on your camera and try to keep the graph somewhere in between ether side of the histogram box. This will give you the best exposure possible. If the graph goes beyond the right or left it will be over or under exposed. This is called clipping. Just note that if you have really bright or dark spots in your photograph you may not be able to remove all the clipping.

Examples below of  histograms with under exposed, properly exposed  and over exposed photo

This is an example of an under exposed photo. Notice the graph is running past the left side of the histogram. This is clipping on the left.  Remember all the information that is past the left or clipped is lost and will show up as pure black on your photo.

This is an example of a properly exposed photo. Notice the graph is centered and to the left side of the histogram. There is a small amount of clipping on the right. This is normal because there are some bright white spots in the photo.

This is an example of an over exposed photo. Notice the graph is running past the right side of the histogram. This is clipping on the right. Remember all the information that is past the right or clipped is lost and will show up as pure white on your photo.

Please note I have used Lightroom histograms in these examples. The histogram on your camera may look different but will basically work the same.

Highlights or Blinkies

Highlight point display or the “blinkies”. This is a mode where the display on the back of the camera will blink in bright spots on the display or photo. This works similar to the histogram. as the blinking shows the clipping only on the overexposed portion of the display or photo. This can be an easy way to check exposure. Just a note -  some blinking may be ok in areas of your photo such as clouds, the sun or very bright spots.

Exposure Compensation

Consider using the exposure compensation function in Aperture-Priority or Shutter-Priority. Use this function if your histogram is clipping. In manual mode this can be done by adjusting the aperture or shutter so that you compensate by over or under exposing as needed to get the histogram to not clip as much as possible. This is really handy in default lighting situations like bright sunny days or in winter with snow and sun.

Exposure Bracketing

One more option to consider is the exposure bracketing function. In this function you will take 2 or 3 frames or more (I set mine to 3 frames and +/- 5EV in increments 1/2) . 1  would be properly exposed, 1 over exposed and 1 under exposed. Then in your photo editing program pick the one with the best exposure.

Exposure bracketing can also be used in HDR or High Dynamic-Range photography and the program I use, Photomatix Pro 3.1,  It is a standalone program and also has plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.  In HDR you shot multiple  photos all at different exposures. Then using a program in post processing to combining them into one photograph that uses the best exposed portion of each photo shot.  Real Cool!  I will cover this more in detail in a future article.

Software

The post processing software available today can do a lot to repair a badly exposed photo, but it cannot repair or bring back information that is lost by clipping.

This is the software I use in the order that I use them the most.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

Photomatix Pro

Topaz labs Adjust

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

Arches National Park is located just a few miles north of Moab in southeastern Utah. The best time to visit Arches is in the spring or fall with the daytime temperatures are in the 60′s  to 80′s.  In the summer the temperatures can hit 110+ . All Camp sites in the park are by reservation only. There are plenty of hotels and camping in and around Moab.  Reservations are recommended in the spring and fall. Easter week is the big jeep rally with over 90K visitors in the area.  Sunrise and sunset are the best times to photograph the park.

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Phantom Canyon is one of three routes From which starts at canyon city area to victor Colorado. The other routes are High Park and Shelf road. All are part of the Gold belt Scenic and Historic Tour. In 1894 the route was first a railroad build to transport the gold ore from Victor to Florence Colorado.  Today Phantom Canyon scenic road is one of Colorado’s hidden treasures and a photographers dream.

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I just finished my first video slide show production and put it to music by Jimmy G’s song “Confrontación Española” a spanish flavor classical guitar and piano, which I think goes great with the location of Cozumel Mexico. I now present “Cozumel Mexico Above and Below the Water” in HD.   So sit back enjoy and let me know what you think!

Music by Jimmy G. All music made available through the JimmyG.us website at:
www.jimmyg.us – Royalty Free Music Downloads

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Download this photograph processed with Topaz Labs  Simplify 2 of the wild side of Cozumel Mexico.  This 2010 photo desktop calendar is free for you and your friends.  All I ask is that you do not edit this file in any way.

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2010 Desktop Calendar in Standard & Wide Screen.

The pictures in this slide show are not paintings, they are photographs! These photographs are processed with a Photoshop plugin called Simplify 2 by Topaz Labs. This is a sample of what you can do with this program. It will remove detail from photographs and make them look like a painting or a cartoon and even a line drawing representation of a photograph.

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