The proliferation of new products and information in the photography magazines and journals has been informative and confusing to professional, amateur and novice photographers alike.

There has been much said about manual vs. automatic cameras and film vs. digital cameras, begging the issue of which is best. This material is directed at expanding the photographic market and is presented to the consumer in such a way as to have him/her believe that they cannot live without the latest and greatest product. After all, the manufacturers are there to make money.

By Dean Webb

The low light angle of the sun in winter produces spectacular evening images of the desert and of the adjacent foothills. The back light on plants light-up, as if touched by fire as the sun reaches the horizon.

Try wide angle lenses from 28 mm and wider through fish-eye. Take a light meter reading, with the sun just out of the frame, and use that reading for your basic exposures. Also, try one stop on either side. One image should explode in light and color.

Spring is arriving on the desert floor and snow is still on the mountains. It’s time to shale off the winter blues, get out your gear and focus on the smaller things in nature—flowers. We are very fortunate to live in an area with such a significant elevation variation. This means that we get to enjoy the Wildflower season much longer than many others.

Think it’s possible to be bored with the scenery in Canada? Well, it is because there’s so much of the same thing — trees, lakes and mountains around every turn in the road.

If you’re thinking about a photo vacation, you have some important decisions to make. What kind of pictures do you want to take on the trip? When and where do you want to go? And, not least important, how much are you willing to spend?

By Lori Stoll

My feeling is that a camera is just a box to hold the film until you're ready to let the light hit it, and that it is not the camera that takes the photo but the person behind the camera. Before you expose your film you should know what the exposed film will look like or at least know what you want your image to like like, what your trying for. What you are trying to share with the viewer.