Picture This!

In an ever changing world of technology, even memory cards are affected. Some of them stop being birthed all together like the SmartMedia card, while others improve in capacity such as the SDHC. I will now rundown the list of current memory cards and which camera brands they work with.

Olympus and Fufifilm cameras record images to the xD card. While Olympus only accepts these cards, Fujifilm now works with SD cards, too. The cards shown here are Type M and Type M+, the difference is that M+ can download images 1 and 1/2 times faster than it's predecessor. Both memory cards come in 1GB and 2GB*.

Sony cameras use Memory Sticks. The difference between these two Memory Stick Pro Duo cards is that the one on the right, reads High Speed. That means it transfers images faster, in this case, up to 80MB**/second. Please be aware that Sony changes their media cards frequently so be sure to check and see if your camera is compatible with their current Memory Sticks.

These are Compact Flash cards and nowadays you only see them being used in digital SLRs . Several years ago they were used by Canon in their point and shoot cameras. The card on the left has 256MB which held a lot of photos on a 4 megapixel camera. Compact Flash cards are now sold in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities.

SD (Secure Digital) cards are the most commonly used memory cards, right now. With the exceptions stated above, these little guys go into every digital point and shoot and a good number of DSLRs. SDHC cards are upgraded versions of SD cards. What's the HC stand for? High Capacity. What does it mean for you? Less time downloading your images to the computer. Be aware that SDHC cards will only work in SDHC compatible cameras.

If you are unsure of what memory card your camera accepts, check your manual or the box.

*GB=Gigabyte, **MB=Megabyte

Hiya kids! This week Barrie, Scott, and I will share some of our favorite photos of Main Street with you. Just the thought of walking down Main Street is sure to put a smile on your face. Right now I can smell the English toffee coming from the Candy Kitchen in Disneyland. I see the lamp posts glowing and I can hear the sound of metal horseshoes clanking on the pavement.

And while all of these images are certainly wonderful photographs, I'm going to take a slightly different approach this week.

I remember quite clearly when in the early 2000's Disneyland wasn't as pristine as it should have been. Then a new sheriff came to town in late 2003 by the name of Matt Ouimet. He turned things around rather quickly, making the park shine again by having the Enchanted Tiki Room refurbished to a beautiful paradise and had all of the burnt out bulbs replaced, and Snow White's Grotto cleaned up. He did a fine job of leading the way and getting the park ready for it's 50th anniversary.

With this one photo I'd like to applaud all of the men and women who made Disneyland a sparkling, gorgeous, and glorious part of America once again. You should all be proud. Thank You!

The Internet is an amazing tool for us photographers. We can share our photos with friends and family almost instantly even when we are miles away from home and imagine wonderful things we can do with them. As Walt Disney said, "If you can Dream it, you can Do it."

My dream was to see my photographs as works of art in a museum. With the help of a few websites, I got to see what they'd look like. The first is from Dumpr where I used a photograph I took of Space Mountain and hung it on a virtual museum wall with virtural art admirers included. I think they like it, don't you?

Space Moutain Portrait hanging in a Virtual Museum.

Now for some pizzazz, over at PhotoFunia you can choose from over 50 different effects. In keeping with my virtural museum theme, I selected a tri-colored effect on Norway's Stave Church. The little boy was kind enough to pose for me.

Modern Art version of the Stave Church in the Norway pavilion.

Well, you can't have your photographs called modern art unless you have a modern artist give you his version. Such is the case at Big Huge Labs who Warholizer photos in the style of Andy Warhol. What do you think of Cinderella's Castle? A nice 6 foot square print would look just grand in my living room, don't you think?

Warholizer version of Cinderella's Castle.

There are lots of websites like these on the Internet. Do you have any favorites?

When I saw the list of themes that Barrie, Scott, and I were going to cover in these, our Disney Pic of the Week blogs, I panicked a bit. You see, I come from a family of non-athletes and so sports and major physical activities aren't something I look for, especially at Walt Disney World. Sure I can swing a golf club so long as the ball is only supposed to roll about 25-30 feet away from me but even that can be cause for mass hysteria. Just ask anyone who's mini-golfed with me.

I joked with Barrie that I had THE perfect photo for this series but I second guessed myself and therefore looked up the definition of "recreation". Thankfully, I was right. With the approval from www.dictionarycom, I give you my entry.

Taken with the Canon PowerShot S5 IS at Caribbean Beach.

recreation–noun
1. refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise, or the like.
2. a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment.

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know I am still out of town and will not be able to post any more blogs until I return. Look for me to resume posting in about 10-14 days.

Til then, Scott and Lisa will keep you going with the Picture This! Photo Blogs!

Thanks for understanding. Enjoy the rest of your summer,

Barrie

One of the things I enjoy most about Disney's Hollywood Studios are the Streetmosphere characters even though I don't always get a chance to stop and watch them. When I do, they always make me smile and/or laugh.

Part of their time on-stage is scripted while the rest is improvised. You never know what they might say or do and that lends itself to the appeal of these roaming "attractions".

During my visit last May, I spotted something rather unusual to my left. Ah huh! This cop was undercover and trying to blend into his surroundings. I tried to follow him as he went from place to place attempting to blend in all the while the spurs on his shoes clicked up and down Hollywood Blvd.

During MouseFest 2007, I came across a director filming a movie scene featuring a young starlett. I was running to a meet so I only got a few quick shots. This is my favorite one.

To get the best pictures possible, be prepared. Have your camera turned on and in-hand ready to shoot. Try using the action mode as these actors don't sit still. I know, I lost the cop!

Believe it or not, there's a whole lot you can do at Walt Disney World besides spending time in one of the themeparks. Besides swimming at your resort, there are all sorts of recreational activities like golf, minature golf, surfing, tennis, horseback riding, parasailing, waterskiing, driving a race car and fishing. What did you say? Fishing? There are some hardy people who get up early (just like us photographers will for the AllEars.net Picture This! PhotoWalk at Mousefest) so they can go after the big ones.

To lead off this week's Disney Pic of the Week theme on Recreation, I choose this photograph of some fishermen who are not only enjoying some early morning fishing but where else in the world could they see a monorail quietly going by while they are doing it?

Barrie and Lisa will be along with their Recreational photos on Thursday and Saturday.

Fishing on Bay Lake.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/800s, f/7.1, 200 ISO, -0.3 EV, 200mm Focal Length

If you read my December 25, 2007 blog, you know that my holiday gift to you is that each month I will post a photo calendar page that you can print out and use at home or work during 2008.

I love going to Walt Disney World in autumn. The weather is perfect, the crowds are low, the decorations are fabulous - and who doesn't love Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party or the Food and Wine Festival?! This photo was taken by the train station in the Magic Kingdom. The Mayor was one of several jack-o-lantern people on display.

You will need to have Adobe Reader on your computer to download the calendar(s). Just click on the photo to download the calendar you want.

This one prints out at 8.5" x 11". It's handy if you need a calendar that you can write on.

This one prints out at 4.75" x 4.75", the perfect size for a CD Jewel Case frame.

Click here to see all of the calendars from past months.

Hi everyone! In case you missed my note last week, I am on vacation and won't be posting a Where in the World challenge this week. That means you you still have time to enter last week's challenge!

See you next Sunday!

I'll conclude this week's theme, characters, with some extremely humorous images of Pluto taken at Disney's California Adventure. During my latest visit "home," I waited in line to meet Pluto and when he realized I just wanted photos of him, he told me in gesture, to wait a moment while he thought. In less than a minute he began posing and modeling for me. It was the absolute highlight of my day.

Please put your paws (or hands) together for Pluto, the Supermodel!



Canon 30D and Canon EF-S 17-84mm USM IS