Fall visit to Cataloochee

The family made it back to Cataloochee this year for a last bout camping with our friends the Brandons. The leaves were in full color and although it got very cold, we had a great time.

The first night we arrived, there were no small campsites available, so we drove up to the ranger's station and luckily got booked for a group campsite, along with 3 guys from Israel. If it hadn't been available, we would've had to drive back down the mountain to Asheville and hopefully found a hotel. Everything ended up ok, and we enjoyed the time. As we were about to leave on Saturday, a small site opened up and we were able to move there. Although it wasn't as relaxing as many of our trips, it was beautiful weather, and a good time.

I finally got to try out my new filter system and continue to get used to the new telephoto. The filter system is a slide filter made by Cokin and I think is going to revolutionize my pictures. A special thanks to Philjomo on Flickr for his help and advice on what to buy. I was so inspired by his photos of Zion national park that I contacted him about his techniques.

Grandfather Mountain

In September, my parents invited my family to share a condo in the mountains with them. Although it rained much of the week, it was wonderfully relaxing and a great opportunity to get out and snap pictures that I don't normally get to take. I never realized how much there was to do around that area surrounding Boone and Grandfather Mountain. It was also my first real opportunity to try out my new zoom and really get used to holding it. So far I'm really pleased with it. I think it will stay in the bag fulltime! :) Enjoy the pictures...

Apologies for the picture publishing hiatus, but I've had computer problems lately in addition to having TONS of pictures to go through. So expect more to come soon! :)

Trip to Wisconsin (July 4th)

On the weekend of July 4th, the family flew to visit our extended family in Wisconsin. Cara's cousins, aunt & uncle were so hospitable and showed us a wonderful time. It was fun, relaxing and full of cheese, brats, and custard. I know I gained 10 lbs and even brought back some more cheese to keep us fat and happy.

We did a ton of stuff, from going to a small town parade, July 4th fireworks, swimming, parks, beautiful gardens and lots of walks. Driving around, we saw the sad effects from the flooding damage all over. I'm sure a lot of work will need to be done to clean all that up. Otherwise, the weather was terrific and a nice break from the NC heat.

Finally, it was really the first extended time using my new camera and getting used to its button placement. I'm really enjoying the fast reaction from the shutter, larger view finder, huge screen and the wheel on the back and finally the amazing number of ISO settings. I haven't noticed a huge difference in image quality, just that the RAW files are around 8-12mb apiece, which is chewing up my 4gb cards fast! I do think it's a bit more sensitive in low light situations than my Rebel XT, but not a major difference. I took 1300 pictures, and narrowed it down to a more manageable 71, so enjoy!

Welcome to Wes Bolton's photography blog!

Welcome to my photography blog! (& my first posting)

Although I'm just a hobbyist, I work hard to try to capture the beauty I see around me in everyday life, nature and travels. I wouldn't say I've developed a particular style yet, but I enjoy taking pictures of my daughter, macros, natural landscapes, cars and people. I enjoy the challenge of learning, and the realization of all I don't know. On this site, I'll link you to featured pictures I store on my Flickr account. I'll also blog about other photographers, photography books I'm reading, post processing software and techniques that interest me.

Background:
I got into photography about 5 years ago, a little before Cara and I got married. Since then I've read numerous books and am on my fourth camera. I love getting to know the cameras inside and out as well as new techniques. I follow several other photographers blogs and work and I'll try to reference them here.

What's in my bag?
I shoot with Canon gear, and have enjoyed their ease of use. I got started with Canon because Cara, my dad and brother all had Canon film cameras, and made it easy to switch lenses. I like the range of lenses and equipment you can choose from, and the interoperability with other bodies in the line.

Body: Right now I have a Canon 40d, which I just got and am still learning. Previously I've had both the original Digital Rebel (300d) and Digital Rebel XT (350d). I really enjoyed the 350d, and had the battery grip. It's a great camera and easy to use, but still advanced enough to do all the major SLR functions.

Glass:
- 17-40L f4 USM
- 28-135 f3.5-5 IS USM
- 50mm f1.8
- 85mm f1.8 USM
- 100mm f1.8 1:1 Macro USM
- 75-300 f4-5.5 IS USM

Other: 550ex speedlight, 2 light umbrellas and a reflector

Enjoy reading, and come back soon for more posts! BTW, If you're a "Google Reader" person, use the following link to subscribe