As a nature lover and college student, deeply concerned about pollution and the health of our little blue planet, I attended the first ever Earth Day in Washington, DC. April 22nd of 1970 was a warm sunny Wednesday on the National Mall. Thousands and thousands had gathered to hear speeches, including the keynote address by Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson and to listen to several songs performed by folk singer Pete Seeger. The crowd was also there to participate in various protests, some related to the Earth Day theme, but many others were not. I proudly wore my new Ecology t-shirt and watched many of the activities… but something was terribly wrong. I left the event with a very uneasy feeling. Something there just wasn’t right.

The next day, I went back to work at my job in the city. As …

I just discovered that a tiny amount of fungus is growing inside my Canon 100mm Macro lens! I should have found it sooner, because I am quite familiar with this insidious problem. The growth in my lens was just located as I was editing this tutorial, when I decided to take my own advice and check all of my “glass”. I am well aware that I must get my lens into the shop as soon as possible. The fungus will never just go away on its own. Fortunately, I found the growth at a very early stage, so I’m pretty sure that the contamination can be removed. This terrible condition can happen to anyone’s lenses, even to an avid lens fanatic like me. I’m hoping that people will read this article and possibly find the problem before it can cause permanent damage to their o…

Maybe it would be a good time to learn how to inspect the aperture diaphragm inside your camera lens.

Anyone who has ever been shopping for a previously owned lens for their SLR or DSLR camera has probably heard or read the phrase, “The aperture blades are clean, oil-free and snappy”. Do you know what this ubiquitous photography phrase means? Is this information that you should know regarding your own camera equipment?

…read on and decide.

In photography, a diaphragm is an adjustable device with a variable opening that is called the “aperture” or “iris” of the lens. It’s the diaphragm’s job to control the amount of light that will “expose” the image. The diaphragm is located within the lens. It obstructs the stream of ligh…

It has taken about a year, but I finally completed my full set of photographs of the beautiful waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park. I have arranged all of the photos (with original descriptions) in the order that they would appear to the hearty hiker. The “tour” begins at the southern most point in the park, crosses Route 118 and then continues north along Kitchen Creek to the “Waters Meet” point. From there, the trek climbs up the Glen Leigh Trail to the Highland Trail, crossing through the Midway Cravasse to the Ganoga Glen trail. The Falls Trail is followed south down through Ganoga Glen in the gorge, back to the Waters Meet point.

These photos were taken during my many visits to Ricketts Glen, starting in the summer of 2006. Most of the falls have been photo…

For me, waterfalls have been some the most challenging subjects I have ever photographed. The difficult part is the extreme “dynamic range” of the light to dark areas in most waterfall scenes. The trick is to find a way to capture that very wide spectrum of contrasts.

The tips listed below are a detailed description of the methods that I used to achieve the specific “look” that you see in most of my recent waterfall photos. If that is the kind of result you would like to get in your pictures, these methods could be very helpful. However, each photographer should also experiment with different methods and settings to see which results fit their own personal “style”.

Here are a few “secrets” that might help

Please be sure to check out the fant…

After fifteen months and hundreds of RAW images, from 16 shooting sessions, the collection of “Forgotten Farmhouse” images is now posted on RedBubble for viewing. Special thanks to all of the very kind members who had asked when they would be able to see the completed project!!!

“Forgotten Farmhouse” Calendar":http://www.redbubble.com/people/profaudio/calen...

*It’s been almost eight months for me on RedBubble and I couldn’t be more pleased that I joined this wonderful organization! This past week was simply amazing! I am extremely grateful for the members who have viewed my work! Almost 37,000 “views” so far, even after “weeding out” some of my images that I felt were not quite up to the the high standards that I see elsewhere on the site.

The last seven days saw Thirteen of my images displayed as “Features” in fifteen RedBubble Groups! I sincerely thank all of these wonderful groups for honoring my work so kindly! I especially want to thank the new group, “The World As We See It…” for featuring several of my postings last week! Thank you sooo much for your support!!!

These are …

Six months on redbubble! I LOVE this wonderful place! I just wanted to say “Thanks” to my new friends here! (I hope I’m doing this “journal” thing right, it’s my first.)

After six months of being a member on redbubble, I decided it was time to thank all of the friends who have supported me, and my work!

Thank you all very much!!

This has been a fantastic week, with ten “Features”! (The most I ever got in a single week.) I want to send a special thanks to the kind moderators who were so kind to me. I really appreciate each of you for featuring my photographs!

Thanks to all of the nice members who have been stopping by to look at my pictures!! (WOW, it’s been almost 28,000 times, so far!)

I LOVE THE FRIENDSHIPS, CHALLENGES AND EXCITEMENT…