I never go put in public without my 40cal or 9mm. Then again I work in law enforcement and p*** off a lot of very bad people. But just to keep things in prespective - you are much more likely to be killed on the highway than by some bad guy.

So far I have scanned 3166 images from slides and negatives. 3166 times .42 = $1329.72

I only have 35mm slides and negatives so I purchased the epson v330. So far I have scanned over 3000 slides and negatives. I just took my time and scanned my images over about a month. I enjoyed the process, got to examine pictures I had not looked at for years and now have all of my pics on my computer.

Getting your collection digitized is a time consuming process even if you have a service do it for you. You still have to go through them all and decide what to keep and what to toss. By doing it myself I kept everything even those that were not technically good, many had sentimental value. For me it was an easy decision - $1200+ for a service to do it or $150 for the scanner and some of my time.

In many outings I shoot both pics and video for wildlife, offroad trips and family. It makes no sense to carry two cameras on these occasions especially since the video quality is so good on todays cameras (a Nikon D7000 in my case).

I also don't understand what real professional photographers have to do with how we use our equipment.

Refresh your page. Your computer has stored a copy of the old page on your computer and displays it instead of the updated copy. This is done to speed things up.

Some times you (I) just forget where a picture was taken, haveing a GPS coordinate would help as well as being able to tell someone else where a picture was taken. I'm in the process of digitizing all of my old slides some of which are 30 plus years old. Although I can remember where most were shot there are some wildlife and back country senics I cannot place. Having GPS coordinates associated with pictures would have been nice to have.

I purchased the Espon v330 about two months ago to scan my slides and negative. I went with the v330 as I only have 35mm. So far I have scanned 2700 images and have been very pleased with the results. Most of what I am scanning are "family pics" and although I can scan at 9600 I found that 4600 is more than adequate for what I am doing. I also purchased it refurbished from epson. Good, fast service and have had no problems with the unit.

A D7000

Stalking eagles can be difficult depending on the terrain. A better way is to spend some time watching where they roost, especially in the early morning or late evening when the light is best. Return on another day before the eagles arrive and find a concealed spot or set up a blind. This will reduce the likelihood of spooking them, get you close as well as time to set up a tripod. It does take more time and they may not show up at all, but then again that’s what wildlife photography is all about.

No no no - do not ride along (not allowed anyway). Trying to get photos while getting rammed by others will get you hurt and destroy your equipment. Riding with a rig that pulls out dead cars does not get you into the action and can also be dangerous. The drivers have been hit lots of times and are rummy. If they get their cars started while being towed they have been know to ram the tow rig. I know - our 4x4 club pulls them out between heats.

As far as photos, just put it on auto and you should get reasonable pics. There will be flood lights that will help get a fair amount of light. Flash won't help because the distances are too great. Here is a photo taken with my Kodak point and shoot at one of our derbys.

By mass production I meant commercially produced tapes. As I said they did put a variety of protections on them over the years. If you search on the internet you can find some software that can bypass the protection but you will need to be able to get the VHS connected to your computer. There are cards that will convert analog to digital but that adds another cost to the project.

We have three very spoiled dogs of our own and various others as we get them. The wife and I foster dogs and cats for Helping Hands.

My boy


My little girl


The rescue dog

Most purchased movie VHS tapes have some kind of copy protection built in and you will not be able to burn them on to a standard DVD writer. There are some computer programs that will allow you to rip a copy that is protected but it is not legal. For what older movies on DVD's cost these days its not worth the hassel in my opinion.

Its possible to drive up into the mountains just east of Tooele, (about 15 miles sw of SLC) and look down into the copper mine. Those monster mining trucks look like ants down there. Problem is that at that time of year I dont think you can get up there due to the snow.

Couple of more options if you have a car. Head up to Snowbird or Alta ski areas. They are on the wasatch front facing SLC. You get more dramatic mountain shots from there than Park City as well as some good views of SLC down below. If you want to get pics there do it in the afternoon or early evening to get the sunset. In the mornings its all in shadow.

Another area to check out are the Salt Flats about 60 miles west of SLC. Its so flat there that the hills in the distance look like they are floating.

And don't pass up Temple Square in SLC, the Temple offers some very dramatic photo ops.

One last area you might try is Strawberry Res. about 40-50 miles past Heber City. They offer snowmobile rentals (at least they used to) that can get you into some very senic backcounty.

Have fun, wish I was back there.