Click here for a larger view                    Photo courtesy of Marcy Starnes.

Today’s picture features a magnificent sunset on Red Mountain after a rainy day in Phoenix, Arizona. Photographer Marcy Starnes did an exceptional job creating this gorgeous HDR image by blending three separate exposures.

The late evening sun really brought out the rich colors of the mountainside and the cacti in the foreground. Very nicely done Marcy!

Here are the camera and settings used to capture the three images at various shutter speeds:

Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: 24-105mm zoom
Focal length: 47mm
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 400

Click here for a larger view                   Photo courtesy of David Sidwell.

Winter is a season that is often filled with hardship, but as today’s picture clearly shows it is also filled with great beauty. Photographer David Sidwell captured this image of a lone tree covered with an inch or more of hoar frost during a winter inversion near Roosevelt, Utah.

Here are the camera and settings used to capture this image:

Camera: Sony Cybershot
Focal length: 21mm
Shutter speed: 1/100 second
Aperture: f/8
ISO: 100

You can see more of Mr. Sidwell’s fantastic photos in his online gallery.

It can seem like a lot of work finding the best digital SLR camera. A lot of choices, and not much help choosing. I think most people head down to their local Best Buy and try to choose their camera in the store.

A better option is to do some research first. The entry level SLR cameras come in under $1,500, and you usually get a kit lens with that. But if you want additional lenses, you have to factor in the additional expense. Nikon, Canon, Sony and Pentax are the leaders in this market.

Before you decide, you should check out the micro four thirds system by Panasonic and Olympus. It’s a new breed of camera. It has interchangeable lenses, but it’s not an SLR.

Many of the entry level SLR cameras have on-screen guides to help transition from point and shoot cameras. And if you are serious about getting a new camera… take a photography class. Really get to know your new camera and all the great features it offers.

Here are some key questions to consider before purchasing a digital SLR:

• How many pixels?
• Do you want video?
• Do you want an on-screen guide?
• Are you willing to carry the extra gear?
• Am I willing to take the time to learn to use a new camera?

Once you can answer these questions, choosing the right digital SLR will be much easier.

About the author: Debbie Lattuga is a photography enthusiast encouraging people to express themselves through photography. To find out more about cameras and photography, check out her blog at Best SLR Camera where she helps people find the perfect SLR camera for them, without all the hassles.

Click here for a larger view                     Photo courtesy of NASA.

Long one of science fiction’s most popular subjects, the Andromeda galaxy has fascinated mankind for a long, long time. Our collective love for Andromeda is partially due to its relatively close proximity to our own Milky Way galaxy, but another reason we’re so partial to it is because it has always appeared to be a “perfect” spiral galaxy. But now we know that Andromeda isn’t quite so perfect after all.

Today’s picture features Andromeda as captured by NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The particular camera that “snapped” this shot was the shortest-wavelength camera on the spacecraft, an absolutely amazing device that detects infrared light on the scale of a minuscule 3.4 microns. At this tiny infrared wavelength, the resulting image clearly shows that the “perfect” spiral of Andromeda is actually warped along the galaxy’s upper-left edge (just to the left of center).

Although the affected region of the galaxy looks small in the photo, in reality it is thousands of light years across. The intergalactic collision that caused the warp surely wreaked havoc on countless “worlds” that resided in the affected region. It’s amazing what we can “see” when we finally learn how to “look” in a slightly different way.

Click here for a larger view

Yesterday was a very sad day at the Rouse household because our great friend Mr. Pooh passed away. Pooh was a lot more to us than just a pet, he was truly a beloved member of the family. Of course like all cats, he was a finicky fellow, at times acting aloof and dis-interested in everything that was going on around him while at other times he would insert himself into the situation as if he were the center of the universe. But through it all, he was a kind, loving soul.

When Cheria and I would sit down to enjoy a meal at the dinner table, he would always climb up onto the bench and sit between us, making sure that we had a little feline company as we dined. And whenever Cheria was sick on the couch he would always climb up onto her belly and just lie there as she mended, purring that gentle, soft purr of his as if it could work some kind of magic and make her ailment go away. And who’s to say that his special “tonic” didn’t work? After all, she always seemed to feel a little better after he came onto the scene.

A few days ago Mr. Pooh began feeling poorly himself. He stopped eating and drinking, and in no time he had lost so much weight that we could feel virtually every bone in his body as we petted him. We took him to the vet, but the news wasn’t good. In all likelihood his kidneys were failing, and we were pretty much told to resign ourselves to the fact that he wouldn’t be with us much longer. And so it was…

The doc called us yesterday morning with the sad news that the treatments he had given Mr. Pooh over the course of the weekend hadn’t helped. After the better part of a decade of mutual love and respect, he was gone.

I’ve often heard it said that pets are “part of the family”, and in Pooh’s case that was so true. He was a great cat and a wonderful friend, and he will be sorely missed. We love you Mr. Pooh.

Click here for a larger view                  Photo courtesy of Cheria Rouse.

We finally had a beautiful sunny weekend with mild temperatures here in southwestern Virginia, so Cheria took along her trusty Nikon D50 as we traveled around from place to place. Although the weather was absolutely gorgeous, there was little of interest to photograph until late yesterday evening when she happened to look up and see the sun’s rays creating this vertical line of color along the edge of a well-positioned cloud.

It wasn’t a traditional rainbow because it hadn’t been raining, but my guess is the water droplets within the cloud were refracting light in much the same way as happens when a rainbow is formed. This is just a guess of course, since I’m not a meteorologist. Anyway, I like this photo a lot. I hope you do as well.

Here are the camera and settings used to capture this image:

Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor 18-55mm “kit” lens
Focal length: 55mm
Shutter speed: 1/500 second
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200