As you know, I took up pastel painting a couple of months ago and have completed 5 paintings so far. Well last weekend I exhibited the first 4 in the Gallaghers Canyon Art Exhibition. The exhibition featured about 25 artists all residing at Gallaghers Canyon. There were over 100 visitors on the opening night alone with more over the following two days. It was a great experience to be part of an art show and it gave me more confidence in my painting ability. I plan to exhibit again next year.

My latest paper obsession is with craft cardstock. I have always loved browns and am really enjoying the look of craft cardstock. I think it is the naturalness of it. Anyway here are two cards using craft CS background, White CS, Mellow Moss Cs, SU Pocket Full of Posies & Everyday Flexible Phrases stamps, Barely Banana/Perfect Plum/Mellow Moss/Basic Black/Chocolate SU Inks, SU Linen Thread.

Here are some photos of J from today:

Here are some photos of K from a couple of days ago:

You may have read my previous blog about my next camera. Well it turns out I didn't buy either of the two cameras I raved about. Not because I changed my mind, the two cameras I recommended are still probably two of the best cameras on the market, but because neither of them are shipping yet. My tax refund arrived and I didn't want to wait because I knew I would spend the money, so I decided to make a decision immediately.

The Nikon D50 had been shortlisted a while ago, together with the Canon Rebel XT and the Nikon D70s. I have read countless reviews, tons of postings on dpreview and browsed endless pictures on pbase. All three are great cameras but here are my reasons for choosing the D50.

The D50 has less features than both the Rebel XT and the D70s but it is also cheaper than the two of them. I had always preferred its pictures, being more vivid and requiring less post-processing out of the camera than the other two, a major advantage to someone with little time for post-processing.

Its kit lens was also rated better than the Canon, in fact Canon lenses in general were a big drawback to choosing a Canon. They have some fantastic premium lenses but at premium prices. Their regular everyday lenses don't rate very well when compared to Nikon at similar prices. The reason that I hesitated to buy the Rebel XT was because I couldn't make up my mind about lenses.

The D70 was bigger and heavier than the competitors and the kit lens was more expensive and therefore a bigger investment which wasn't necessarily a good thing seeing as I knew I'd need other lenses (telephoto zoom and low-light prime). I had a hard time giving up the D70s features, especially the remote flash commander, but I know that I can always add the remote flash commander unit to the D50, albeit for the difference in price between cameras ($310 CDN).

At the end of the day it's the pictures that count and not the features. That clinched the deal because I just like the D50 pictures better.

K is fascinated by the quail that run around at the back of our yard and usually frightens them off (she can be so noisy). Today though, she was at daycare and so I got the chance to stalk some quail. Here's a shot with the D50 & 55-200 lens.

Here are the first pictures taken with my Nikon D50 SLR camera. I am really happy with the pictures it takes "out of the camera" no post-processing. This was the reason I chose this camera over the Canon Digital Rebel XT.



These two were taken of J indoors using ISO 1600. I am not sure that such a high ISO was really necessary but I am trying to decide whether I need a prime lens such as the 50mm F1.8 for low light or whether the kit lens will be enough. I thought they came out pretty good although just a bit grainy which is what you'd expect.