My Photo Guides

Congrats to Google on this historic event and opportunity for the G+ community. If you're interested, follow the instructions below; applications close soon and selected photographers will be announced in a few hours. Originally shared by The Obama White House Today, we’re excited to announce our first Google+ #photowalk at the White House: http://wh.gov/UPO Interested in joining us on Saturday, April 21st? Here’s how you can apply through Google+: - Share a favorite nature or garden photo that you have taken on Google+ with the tag #WHPhotowalk - Briefly tell us why you’d like to join the White House Garden Tour Photowalk - Make sure that you follow the White House on Google+ If selected, you will receive a message via Google+ with additional information no later than Wednesday, April 18th at 5 p.m. ET.

Wandering the Mojave Desert On the way to the #LV2012 Google+/Panoramio Las Vegas Photowalk we did some exploring of various parts of the Mojave Desert. the Mojave Desert extends throughout the entire range of the Joshua Tree, from Anza Borrego State Park near San Diego to Death Valley to Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, and just about everything in between. A lot of this territory is BLM land (Bureau of Land Management), featuring old mines with various forms of debris, as well as small mountain ranges with fascinating desert scenery. I've crossed this area many times, but each time I vow to revisit at a slower pace, so I can explore and document its treasures in greater detail.

Thanks to everyone who has posted albums from the Google+/Panoramio Las Vegas Photowalk weekend. I'm sharing albums from the trip over on the Las Vegas Photography Workshops page as I run across them. Photos with the trip's #LV2012 hashtag in the description when they're shared can also be found by clicking on that tag. Here's the latest album from the trip uploaded, from my daughter Nicole Sullivan, who used the Canon 40D which failed just before the trip, but which I was able to have repaired on short notice (within one week thanks to Thien Chau). Originally shared by Nicole Sullivan

Have a broken DSLR Requiring Repair? After ignoring my the shutter issues on an old Canon XTi for a long time, it finally locked up, I set it aside, then I eventually had error messages come up with my 40D as well. So I finally broke down and shipped both off for repair. I found a repair service through eBay, and it turned out he was also a G+ user Thien Chau. He'll diagnose a camera's issues for free, and send an estimate. I only had a little more than a week before I needed to have 3 cameras operational in time for the #LV21012 G+ Las Vegas Photowalk , so I asked about quick turnaround. He repaired two issues in each camera, shutters on both, a power board on one and a shutter release button on the other, and express-shipped both back to me, all within one week and in time to bring them on my trip. The bodies together are worth about $675 used, but they now have brand new Canon shutters which should last them for years more, and Thien backs his work with a a warranty so I c...

Catch the Lyrid Meteor Shower in Dark, New Moon Skies This Weekend! Upon reworking and uploading this Milky Way timelapse video from last Summer I realized that it shows a meteor shower rising above the horizon just before dawn (toward the right side of the video)... probably one of the "daytime" meteor showers that occur in June. You don't have to wait that long however, since the best meteor shower of Spring will arrive this weekend, just in time for Saturday's new moon to provide perfect viewing conditions. I've provided more detail on my blog post, and it describes how you can find night shooting tips on my blog as well: Prime Conditions for the Lyrid Meteor Shower This Weekend! http://activesole.blogspot.com/2012/04/prime-conditions-for-lyrid-meteor.html http://youtu.be/ZJfF4cQ8R1Q?hd=1 #StarryNights #Astronomy #Astrophotography Blogger YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJfF4cQ8R1Q

What Camera Do You Use? I've been getting that question a lot lately. I think it's intended in part as a compliment on the quality of the images, but it does also imply that the camera was responsible for their success. I also see a lot of "It's not the camera" posts, and I'm not completely comfortable with those either, since (I just bought a new camera and) there are often valid reasons for upgrading to a camera with new or improved features. So I think the reality lies somewhere in the middle. To support the side of "It's not the camera", I've added 6-7 photos to the front of this album from the 2004-2005 timeframe. The large, album cover photo below was shot on an entry level DSLR, the Canon Digital Rebel XT, now 7 year old technology, reselling used these days for about $200. The others were shot on a Canon Powershot G5 point-and-shoot, purchased in 2004. So if it's not the camera, what is it that results in better photos? Or ...