Where on earth did May go? It just seems to be disappearing over the horizon, and we can't help but wonder what the heck happened to our resolve about getting certain home projects going - such as, move in (will be a year this July) and get organized (friends say we're dreaming) and sell the camera and horse equipment we are not using (hard to part with really good stuff) BUT an effective feng shui attack on the current household chaos is vital to our mental health... But the deadlines don't stop and time just bolts - gaaah!

Plus, we really really want time to post some great photos - you know, the kind where you say to yourself - wow! a moment captured because you happened to be in the right place at the right time. Like this photo:

This was our beloved horse, Roger - AKA Roger Rabbit (before we saw the movie - our pony was NOT obnoxious, but it seemed like a very cute name for him) and also Crusader Rabbit because of his great heart and generous spirit. This was the first ever digital photo we took, once we returned to photography. Deteriorating eyesight made manual focus a nightmare, so we stopped shooting except on the rarest of occasions. Our return to photography took place with a dandy point-and-shoot camera equipped with an incredible zoom and motor-drive option. We went out the back door of the cottage which, at the time, we called home, tucking a couple of carrots into our jeans. Roger wasn't far away and he loved treats. He came over to the fence while we played with the new toy- errr, camera. He could sense a treat like no other creature and started begging. Who says horses are dumb animals and can't communicate? We love this photo, we still love this horse who crossed the rainbow bridge on 21 November 2006: we'd been together for 18 years, but it wasn't long enough...

Great photos are often lucky shots - all the stars in alignment, settings just right on the camera, focus sharp... An old photographer friend once said: "it isn't the equipment, it's the person behind it." And yet another photographer friend said: "don't sweat over your camera body - get the best lens you can afford." Great advice, and it rings true today in the golden age of digital when equipment is obsolete before you get it out of the box.

Our adventures with various professional  D-SLR NIkon bodies have been erratic - sometimes they're too fancy and sophisticated for our own good. We loved loved loved our D70S - but it ended up with an electronics glitch that, given challenged "artiste" finances, isn't high on the list of investments to get it repaired. It was a great workhorse of a camera body, lighter than the pro bodies, which can lead to lens-coupling issues if it's a heavy one. The digital aspect of photography, in my experience, means a shorter shelf life than the sturdy bodies of the film era.

But as with anything else, it isn't the equipment, it's what you do with it. There are classes to learn the intricacies of every model on earth. There are how-to manuals which can be helpful, depending on what country produced them, and there are other sources on-line. We prefer to shoot shutter priority, and we like a really high f-stop so that the background stays sharp - for example, this photo from the 159th Upperville Colt & Horse Show:

This is a good case for high fstop so that depth of field approaches infinity. The Blue Ridge Mountains in the background and the clouds provide a lovely backdrop for the trees on the western boundary of the new jumper ring at Upperville (VA). Best of all the stonework of the steps and wall are fairly sharp - at least, they don't give us a blinding headache. Then there's this different perspective, a few days later of the same ring:

Love the depth of field, but that's such a nice background - spectacular views worthy of National Geographic.

BUT what about the cluttered background? How do you deal with that? Well, that's what most cameras that are set to Program do for you by default. Check out your settings: if your camera is on P, focus on something and look at the shutter speed - probably right up there at 1/1000th of a second maybe faster - and your f-stop is a really low number - say, 4 or 5.6. What this means is that any background will be blurry - this also means you might end up taking a very fuzzy & out of focus photo if your camera is sophisticated and has focus options. That's because the f-stop is the pupil of the lens - similar to how your eye's pupil dilates in low light and goes to a pinpoint in bright sunlight. The higher the f-stop, the smaller the "aperture" or opening of the lens that admits light. The lower the f-stop, the bigger the aperture. Easy peasy.

Okay, that's enough tech talk for now. We'll try to remember to take some wide-open aperture action shots so you can see the difference...

Happy Trails!