Sorry for a long break in my blog. (No reason?, Well I don't want to lie. Just being lazy sometimes). I have always wanted to have a camcorder that meets my need without too many complications. I had thought with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II, I could use the video aspect of it and that should be enough, but that is not the case.The EOS 5D takes care of my photography aspect of my hobby. Sometimes, I think it makes me a bit lazy and makes me look better than I really am. This is an advise to all you budding photographers: buy quality lenses for your cameras. It is all in the lens. People are very impressed at the quality of my work, well, people that are around me. They must be, as I get requestes for services. Not being a business professional photographer, I turn down a lot of requests to photograph weddings and other events. Lots of money being thrown away, a friend told me. I still have my day job. So I stay at being refered to as Professional hobbyist photographer. Whatever that means.

Sometimes when I go to events with my gear (especially when I mount on the camera, my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom Telephoto Lens http://www.photoafricana.com/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=11 , photographers and guests with their point and shoot cameras get intimidated. You get comment like "this is the real professional here" hmnn. It is fun though. Have you noticed when asked to be official photographer of an event that you hardly participate in everything else that is happening at the event? If it is a wedding, you are focused mainly on the bride and groom. You don't even hear the music, comments jokes that go on. You are in your own world. Just to get the best product out at the end of the day.

Well back to the video aspect of this blog, that is why I am writing today after a long layoff. I decided to buy a camcorder that will not be professional equipment but good enough to produce quality pictures. It will not too complicated to use but have the ease of my knowledge from still photography. While contemplating and browsing the web, I usually start with comments by CNET, I had the TV on and boila, NBC television wanted to talk about the type of camcorder to buy in this holiday season (Thanksgiving holiday was coming up). At the end of the broadcast, I had narrowed it down to Canon Vixia HV40 miniSD HD Camcorder. So research on the internet continued, then comparison with other top of the line camcorders that are not for professional use. It looked good. The next thing is where to buy at good price. Next research. The first place was at  photoloon.com for $639. Very cheap price but the don't accept paypal. Now, buying online, one has to be careful, at least reduce your risk. The next was Buyer's Edge through Pricegrabber.com for $698 and free two days Fedex delivery. I jumped at it. Now am still waiting for the camera. Maybe it will get here on Monday. No message, not even an email. Paypal confirmed payment though.

I have learnt not to buy a package deal when ordering cameras online. Suppliers usually put together low quality accessories with high end cameras. So I went to B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?KW=BUTTONS&img=BH_80x80.gif) to look for Canon extra battery, I bought Canon BP-2L14 Battery for $49 with free shipping. Then off to ebay for a 43mm Hoya ultra violet filter for $10.

I will keep you posted how it all turns out. Maybe I will post some video later. If everything goes well, we may offer the products at photoafricana.com. The prices might have come down then.

        

Went to a wedding over the weekend in Greenbelt, a suburb of Baltimore Maryland. The son of a close friend was the groom and it was a beautiful wedding. Well organized. Surprisingly, got a good price on last minute travelling package from Expedia travels on Hotel and Rental car. The hotel, Holiday Inn in Greenbelt was undergoing major remodeling. I was aware of it when I read the review online before purchasing the ticket. The rooms were nice which is typical of Holiday Inn. What was missing though is the details in getting the rooms ready for new guests.  We booked two rooms, Toilet of one room was blocked, a repairman came and fixed it promptly.  There were dirty towels mixed with new one, all arranged as new. This was noticed in the two rooms rented. Other little details  not taken care off.  It looks as if while efforts were made in getting the rooms ready for new guests, attention to details were left out making it look like a rushed job. This has nothing to do with hotel remodeling.  Welcoming new guests and leaving guests can be improved.

Now with the wedding, it was held at University of Maryland chapel while the reception was at The Camelott, a nice environment.  The father of the Groom had visited us at our hotel earlier and decided to ride with us to the wedding. We were running late and on the way, got stopped by Cops for speeding. Well, that set us back time wise. Playing a dual role as a guest and also photographer for Groom’s dad, photoafricana.com missed some important moments at the church and reception. Well, pictures taken can be viewed at http://photoafricana.smugmug.com/gallery/8472986_Lhfac#557273715_CuFjr . It was a beautiful wedding, well organized and a lot of colors which is typical of Nigeria’s style of events. This is wishing Lanre and Funmi Famodu happy married life.

        

Attended a Gala organized by members of Christ the King Episcopal Church, Bellaire, Houston Texas yesterday for new church fund raising. It was a well planned and organized event. It was well attended but the management of Hilton Hotels on Southwest Houston where the event was held performed below level expected of such a facility. The hotel management forgot this is summer and the air conditioning kept people sweating. Of course, pictures were taken, young up and coming Nigerian dancers added to the beauty of the event. Thanks to the event organizers. It was a memorable evening. Click the link here to see the events pictures taken by PhotoAfricana  http://photoafricana.smugmug.com/gallery/8382615_jxVy3#550168326_rELrr. Did I mention Nigerian dancers earlier? they are kids between I think three years old and sixteen years.  There brand of Africna dance was like that of the Atilogue dancers. Here is a small clip from their beautiful dance.

Atilogu dancers at Christ the King Episcopal Church Gala Night. May 2009 Hilton Hotel Houston Texas

        

Have just returned from a trip to Nigeria in Africa. Didn't get much done in terms of photography but attended  a festival - Eyo Festival and a wedding engagement. You can see pictures at www.photoafricana.com. Attended a small party and recorded this clip with of course the canon EOS 5D Mark II. It also took all the pictures at the event. You can see some of the pictures taken at http://photoafricana.smugmug.com/gallery/7737478_XCq8W#500463349_iM5Pg. The clips are below: Get-together party of Senbanjo after the Wedding Engagement in April
Get-together party of Senbanjo after the Wedding Engagement in April

Senbanjo Get-together party continue

        

I haven't been writing for a while. Been in school in the evening. I finally concluded that it is better to take advantage of the brains out there in improving if I want to be better. Well, I enrolled at Proudphotography.com:  I also upgraded my arsenal. I now have the following lenses along with appropriate filters: http://www.photoafricana.com/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=11 and http://www.photoafricana.com/product.sc?productId=13. We also have them in stock and for sale at our store - www.photoafricana.com.

        

Yesterday and today have been intensive training session. Received my DVD this evening from Elitevideo on Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera which I bought on Ebay. Good quality video and very informative. I seems to have good idea of my camera before receiving it. The camera has so many gadgets that it is like an aircraft cockpit. Yesterday was spent at Michael Andrew's website. Lots of information being digested and yet no camera. I understand the details and logic behind them during training. I doubt it if I can still remember 30% of what I learnt. I will start over once I get the camera equipment. As an amateur getting into this business, I am doing this as a hobby which I called becoming a professional hobbist. When the equipment arrives on Friday, I will list the items received. Apart from the Canon 5D Mark II, I expect to receive 3 lenses: Canon 28-90mm F4-5.6 III AF Lens, Canon EF 75-300 F/4.0-5.6 III lens and Titanium .45x Wide Angle lens, 16GB Compact Flash Card - that should give me good storage space, Flash Card Reader, Digital Flash for SLR, both Aluminum and Deluxe cases, FLD, PL and UV lenses, etc.. All put together for me by the supplier Shop Sunshine. I don't know if I mentioned it before, I have a Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision HD/MP  on my laptop. Being a webcam, it is limited but can do both video and capture pictures. This has been the only equipment I've used in the last few days to take pictures. It can only do point and shoot, then modification using your computer.

I subscribed yesterday to ifp3.com, and it has been an exciting experience. I now have photoafricana.ifp3.com website. As usual, waiting for pictures to load. I joined ifp3.com due to their process of selling images in your gallery and easy link to your website. Well, back to my training on the DVD. Talk to you tomorrow. 

        

Waiting for my camera package to arrive but meanwhile reading more about tips on photography. Have been going through various tips from professionals on the web. dslrtips.com gave a whole lot of hints, so also is Michael Andrew's photography school free tips. I learnt a lot and book marked his site for quick reference. I have decided not to attend any online school even though I was strongly tempted to signup with digital-photography-school. I want to follow a different route, see what the free web can offer me. At the end of the day, I will be  a product of free internet training. So, I went back to my picture albums in my drawers and took out all my old point and shoot pictures that I photographed, start criticising the work done. There are so many things one could have done better, and imagine that I thought they were good pictures. It seems scales were removed from my eyes and I can see clearer. Details in the pictures, It's like reading a book. Remember this is my only second day. I spent twelve hours yesterday going through a lot of tips and reading. Today, I went through Paal Bentdal collections at Photo.net this afternoon as more of a training section but was very impressed with work presented. Oh, I can't wait to get my camera, was told to expect it on Friday.

I have not decided my area of concentration but I know it will have a lot of African environment in it. That's why I will be taking a trip of five days to Africa after improving on my knowledge. What will I shoot? I don't know yet but when the time comes, there will be a lot in the gallery for you all to criticize and of course hopefully enjoy. My intention is to bring something new, unknown and rear. So it is like rediscovering part of the partially known world.

        

The beauty of digital world is the simplicity to help create the imagination that you can bring your thoughts to reality. When you get to it, you find out that it can be daunting but possible. Technologies and information really help you and tutor you along the way. People you might not give a damn for when you run into them in real life on the street due to the way they look or act become your mentor due to their writings and work. I thank you all for getting me on this path. I hate you for making it look easy but require lots of time from my other activities to get into this.

Who am I? a busy company executive who has always love photography but never had time (hmnn, as if I have the time now) to venture into it. I am a novice and need to learn quick. Well, here we go. I am a complete amateur who WILL work hard to be a pro hobbiest. Four days ago, I decided to put my interest in photography to reality. I started shopping for camera. I have had panasonic video cameras in the past, mainly for family use. Well, I went to stores: Best Buy, Fry's even Walmart and talked to the sales people. Surprisingly, they seem to know more than I would expect from them. With the information from them, I went on internet. Two full days of research, I decided to buy a professional Digital Camera, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital camera - SLR - 21.1 Megapixel and related accessories - lenses, filters, tripod. Straight to the top baby. Why starting from a cheaper amateur equipment when I want to be a Pro? I created two websites: photoafricana.com for pictures to be sold and photoafricana.net for this blogcast. I also join dotphoto.com and start reading achieved Darren Rowse blogs from digital-photography-school.com on shutters, ISO, Aperture.

My intention is to take pictures from Africa. Hope this will end up being interesting to you and of course to me. My equipment will arrive in a few days from the mail order from shopsunshine.com. I hope their advise and shipment will meet my expectation. How did I end up buying online instead of store? prices. I then make the payment secured by using paypal.

        

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