Exploring Oregon

Well, I finally did it. I bought my first digital SLR camera. I couldn't afford the camera I wanted, (Canon's EOS-1Ds Mark III,) so I bought the best I could afford: The Canon Rebel XTi. I like Canon cameras. I already own two Canon SLRs, the EOS IX Lite and the Elan IIe, so I won't have to invest in any new lenses for a while.

It's only been two weeks, so I'm not ready to do a full blown camera review. But I have to say I really like working with camera RAW images!

To show you what I mean, here's a picture of my cat Munchkin, (one of five feisty felines "in charge" at our house--just ask them!) The top image is the jpeg created by the camera. The bottom image is what I ended up with after making only two adjustments to the RAW image: I lightened the image "one stop", and selected a custom white balance.

Now Munchkin's fur is the right color, and her face really stands out against the dark background.

Labels: camera RAW, digital camera, dSLR, Rebel XTi

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Last weekend, Llama and I took a short holiday and went to Crater Lake. One of the perks of living here in Oregon is the proximity to this truly awesome, natural lake. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to drive down, if the traffic is light, so it makes a great two-day getaway.

On Monday afternoon, we hiked up the 1/4 mile trail at Sun Notch. Short of taking the boat ride, this is the best place to view the "Phantom Ship". The hike is short but not easy, in spite of a well kept trail, as the grade is steep. Once you reach the top, there are trails to the right and the left, following the rim of the crater.

We headed off to the left, and kept following the rim long after the trail ended. When we stopped, Applegate Peak was looming over head, and the lake was spread out before us. I set up my tripod and took three pictures in hopes I could "stitch" them together into a panorama. The program did a decent job, though I wouldn't try to sell the resulting picture.

As you can see from this composite image, with this high vantage point you can see Wizard Island to the left and Phantom Ship to the right, and all of the lake in between. This is a really spectacular view, and no photo does it justice. If you ever make it to Crater Lake, take the hike! It's well worth the view.