I will soon be starting a photo blog on OKC and Oklahoma in general. Here's a preview of a couple recent shots.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/3010077856_7f618622cc.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/3010077376_d16d9110a9.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/3010076276_049e53bb16.jpg

Those are great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Nice pics! I especially like the one of the Survivor Tree. Do you belong to any of the local camera clubs?

That's good news, JBrown. I look forward to it.

Thanks everyone.

No I don't belong to any photography clubs. No time, lol.

jbrown - if you are looking for a good site to host your pictures checkout shutterfly.com. It is free and easy to use.

Here is an example but you can do much more including self publish photo books:
Shutterfly (http://traveler1.shutterfly.com/)

Very nice.

Thanks Luke!

Kerry, I am using Flickr for hosting. Does shutterfly have a blog template/function?

Hey Jbrown! How soon is soon? :P

Those photos are enticing. I want more already. I'm a picture nut.

Thanks Luke!

Kerry, I am using Flickr for hosting. Does shutterfly have a blog template/function?

Yes they do.

Dang...I'd say you got some artistic talent there...

Have you thought of submitting some of this for inclusion in the oklahoma travel info/brochures (travelok)? And perhaps the OKCCVB as well...

Just a thought...good work.

Thank you sgray. Most of those publications/organizations have photographers they already work with. I've inquired with some of them in the past. If anyone is interested, I am for hire. :)

JBrown, great photos. If I may ask, what type of camera do you have? I am in the market for buying a nice camera and still so undecided on which way to go. Anyone have any ideas? I prefer to have one with interchangeable lenses, etc. As I get older the more I wish I had a really nice camera, so thats what I'm going to buy.

I use a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. It's a good entry level professional camera.

JBrown, great photos. If I may ask, what type of camera do you have? I am in the market for buying a nice camera and still so undecided on which way to go. Anyone have any ideas? I prefer to have one with interchangeable lenses, etc. As I get older the more I wish I had a really nice camera, so thats what I'm going to buy.

I would highly recommend a Canon 40D. I have both the 40D and the 30D. The 30D is my back-up as my 40D is my main camera. With the recent release of the 50D you can pick up a 40D for not too much. It is a great camera. Or if you want to go a little cheaper, you can get the Canon XSi. However, the Rebel series (XT, XTi, XSi and XS) all have plastic bodies whereas the 30, 40, 50D line are magnesium alloy bodies. So they are much more durable. Also, the 30, 40, 50D series are larger body cameras then the Rebel series, and so if you have big hands, the 30/40/50D will be more comfortable in your hands. I looked at both series and went with the 30/40D because I have big hands and the Rebel series didn't feel comfortable. I had a hard time holding it firmly. And when you drop 750-1000 for a camera body, you want to be able to feel like you won't drop it whenever you have it in your hands.

Anyway, if you want any more info, PM me and I will tell you whatever you want to know.

JBrown,

It would depend on what kind of blog will suit your needs. Checkout blogspot (that's what Doug uses for his history blog) easy to use but you have to make sure you watermark your photos if you don't want them easily stolen. Works best if you have more words than photo.

I don't know much about flickr but it is very popular for photographers. Shutterfly looks to work well if you have multiple photos of the same subject to group together.

If you are much more about the photo as art then I would go with deviantart. It is an online art community that you can upload your photos. You can add whatever comments you want about it, they will add a watermark, and you can even set up a print account where they will pay you for prints that you sell. It is free or you can upgrade to a subscription.

Whatever way you go let us know.

There is a camera club in OKC Metro Camera Club (http://metrocameraclub.org/default.htm) I keep telling myself I'm going to go one day but I always forget.

okrednk, it depends on what you want out of your camera, your skill level, how much you plan to use it, and how much you want to spend. The 40D is a great camera but it may be way too much camera and expense for an entry level. I also own an Xti because it was the most I could buy for the money I had. I am happy with it but I wished I would have saved more money and bought something better like a 40D. But then again I shoot 1000+ photos every month.

I would first figure out how much you want to spend, then research and buy the best camera you can for the money.

There is a camera club in OKC Metro Camera Club (http://metrocameraclub.org/default.htm) I keep telling myself I'm going to go one day but I always forget.

There's a meeting Monday evening at 7:15pm. You should come. :)

To what so1rfan said, if the camera you're looking at doesn't come with a telephoto lens, check out the cost of what one would cost because you may very well want to have that (or perhaps a wide angle lens) later on, if not immediately. While I'd assume that all SLRs have a "sports" mode ... hold down the shutter and a series of shots immediately occurs ... good for basketball or Thunder Girl dance routines ... my assumption may be incorrect and you'll probably enjoy having such a feature.

Jason Bondy's well done photography blog at http://radio51.blogspot.com/ also uses Blogger but I wouldn't suppose there's anything magical about the choice you'd make. The Blogger format doesn't lend itself to images wider than 500 px, so that's why most of the images I post are in 2 sizes ... 500 x whatever px, and 1024 x 768 or something similar ... so that when one clicks on an image a larger version opens in a separate window. If you need help with the html code used to make that happen, here is what one can do:

<a href="larger.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="smaller.jpg"></a>

If you don't use target="_blank", the linked image will open in a window that replaces the initial location ... target="_blank" causes the larger image to open in a separate tab (Firefox) or window (IE Explorer).

Also, you'll need to determine what jpeg compression ratio suits your needs. Lower ratios (e.g., 90%) produce a better image but load more slowly; higher (e.g., 70%) ratios load more quickly but at a reduction in quality.

Thanks for the advice. I like how Jason Bondy just links the photos to his flickr page from blogspot. I will either do that, or I will use iWeb/.Mac.

It's up!

Winding Stair Media (http://windingstairmedia.blogspot.com/)

Excellent! I got the honor of leaving your 1st comment!

Beautiful photos.
Wordpress has a free blog platform at wordpress.com , if you find that you don't like blogger.

Thanks skye.

Those are some great shots JB I look forward to seeing your photo blog

Thanks guy!

Thanks for the inputs on the cameras to everyone.