Finally, AlettA Photographic is open. You can actually purchase the Stabilizers from the e-commerce site.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

http://alettaphoto.com/

Finally, AlettA Photographic is open. You can actually purchase the Stabilizers from the e-commerce site. I still have a lot of work to do but that will be done in the weeks to come. I'm a better photographer than I am a computer geek, so I have to carefully read and learn as I go. There's no way I could afford a professional Website designer.

I have been moderately successful with the Stabilizers for the Pentax K-5 and K-7, but that's probably because of this Blogsite. Now I have to reach the Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus fans. Somehow, I will have to come up with enough cash to advertise on various popular Blogsites, maybe a magazine or two and Google AdWords. Maybe I will try EBay as well, but I don't think that it would work for a new line of products.

I would like to spread the word on Forums, but me doing it would be spamming...I suppose. So if you have a chance, and belong to other forums than the Pentax oriented sites, I would forever be grateful if you could spread the word. Actually it's the same for the Pentax oriented sites, I can't talk about it but you can.

We have a lot of totally new products we will introduce in the near future, but so far, I spent a whole lot more money than I received. I am so excited about the stabilizers. It really works well. I would have purchased one if someone else would have come up and market a similar gadget.

When visiting  http://alettaphoto.com/ Each item is shown as a thumbnail with it's selling price. Clicking on the thumbnails, you can view more and bigger images. You can read the description and see the some of the comments received. There are even video files about the items or related to the items.

Please visit the store, if only to give me your impression and suggestions.  Email me at brqyvn@gmail.com

From now to June 15th, I have a coupon for $20.00 credit for purchases of $100.00 or more. When checking out, enter coupon number TWH21053031H when prompted so.

After staying up till 3:00 in the morning for the last four days, I think I will take the rest of the night off. It's currently 9:30 at night here in California.

I hope I will be able to serve you with some of your photographic needs.

Thank you for reading and good night,

Yvon Bourque

P.S. Did I mention the store URL?  http://alettaphoto.com/ :)

From Cambridge in colour, Photo Stitching Digital Panoramas, Part 3: Panoramic Image Projections

mail: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

Here is the third and final lesson on Photo Stitching Digital Panoramas, all found on Cambridge in Colour.

An image projection occurs whenever a flat image is mapped onto a curved surface, or vice versa, and is particularly common in panoramic photography. A projection is performed when a cartographer maps a spherical globe of the earth onto a flat piece of paper, for example. Since the entire field of view around us can be thought of as the surface of a sphere (for all viewing angles), a similar spherical to 2-D projection is required for photographs which are to be printed... Click here to continue reading on Cambridge in Colour.


Thanks for reading and check our new e-commerce: http://alettaphoto.com/

Yvon Bourque

From Cambridge in colour, Photo Stitching Digital Panoramas, Part 2: Using Stitching software.

 Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

It's a long weekend for us in the U.S.   It's Memorial Day, and usually signify the beginning of Summer and the first BBQ on the grill for the summer. I got my big juicy steaks marinating tonight for cooking tomorrow. Yum!

Continuing on the excellent lesson of yesterday, via Cambridge in Colour.

Digital photo stitching software is the workhorse of the panorama-making process, and can range from providing a fully automatic one-click stitching, to a more time-consuming manual process. This is part 2 of the tutorial, which assumes all individual photos have already been properly captured (stage 1 below is complete); for stage 1 and an overview of the whole stitching process please visit part 1...continue reading on Cambridge in Colour.

Thanks for reading and hope you are having a great weekend.

P.S. The AlettA Photographic e-commerce is open, although some details are still being added. Check us out.

From Cambridge in colour, Photo Stitching Digital Panoramas, Part 1: Overview & Capture

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

The folks at Cambridge in colour have everything you would want learn about digital photography. They get a little technical, but the amount of research that they put in their articles is producing some of the best lessons on the internet. It's all for free. It is one of my favorite site.

In the next few days, I will link you to their three lessons about photo stitching and panoramas. Actually, once you get to their site, you'll probably spend hours reading. 

Excerpts:
Digital photo stitching for mosaics and panoramas enable the photographer to create photos with higher resolution and/or a wider angle of view than their digital camera or lenses would ordinarily allow—creating more detailed final prints and potentially more dramatic, all-encompassing panoramic perspectives. However, achieving a seamless result is more complicated than just aligning photographs; it also involves correcting for perspective and lens distortion, identifying pixel-perfect matches between subject matter, and properly blending each photo at their seam. This tutorial aims to provide a background on how this process works, along with discussing common obstacles that one may encounter along the way—irrespective of panorama software type. continue reading on Cambridge in Colour.

I congratulate them for an excellent site, and my site of the day.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

Get involved in the story of Photographers / Photojournalists.

The Libyan Republic by Michael Christopher Brow

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

I first saw a post of emphas.is beta on Miserere's blogsite.  That's a good way to fund projects. Maybe you can participate by funding a project or more and maybe you can submit your own project.  Please visit their site, it's very interesting.

Get involved in the story.
On Emphas.is you are the gatekeeper.

Photojournalists pitch their projects directly to the public. You get to decide whether a story is worth doing.

By agreeing to back a story, for a minimum contribution of $10, you are making sure that the issues that you care about receive the in-depth coverage they deserve.

In return you are invited along on the journey.

Photojournalists on Emphas.is agree to enter into a direct dialogue with their backers, sharing their experiences and insights as the creative process unfolds.

Thank you for visiting,

Yvon Bourque

I will not write an e-book for thePentax K-r as it is too similar to the Pentax K-x. The K-x e-book has all you need. Read on to see the differences between the two cameras.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

The Pentax K-r has been out since September 2010. Is replaced the Pentax K-x which was a huge success for Pentax. It would have been a mistake to replace the K-x with a totally redesigned DSLR because of its popularity. So the Pentax K-r was born, but with the same heart, the 12.4mp CMOS sensor.

I was contemplating whiting a new e-book for it, and I even wrote about one fourth of the book. Since then, I received many emails requesting the K-r e-book. I thought about it a long time and decided that I couldn't write a specific book for the K-r because A) The similarities in their operation are not worthy of a new e-book. The K-x e-book is sufficient to learn about the K-r's operation. B) It made no sense to sell you, likely at a higher price, a new e-book just for the sake making money. C) The differences are mostly in the body

and shape of the camera. Therefore, if you purchased a new Pentax K-r, my K-x e-book will suffice and you will  save a few bucks as the newer e-books are selling for $15.00 instead of the $11.00 for the K-x.

I listed the differences between the two cameras below:

1. The K-x had a maximum ISO of 12,800 with expansion while the K-r has a maximum ISO of 25,600 with expansion. (Great improvement, but once you know how to change ISO, it's all the same)
2. The K-x had a continuous shooting speed of 4.7fps (17 frames) while the K-r has a continuous shooting speed of 6.0fps (25 frames) (Again, this is great but as far as operating it, there are no changes.)
3. The auto focus of the K-r is faster and more accurate. It also has an AF assist light for better focusing in darker areas.
4. The K-r has the AF point confirmation in the viewfinder, which is a great addition but doesn't change anything as far as shooting.
5. The K-r can use the supplied rechargeable battery or can use four AA batteries with the optional adapter. That is great if you travel.
6. The camera body of the K-r is slightly larger and has a modified shape.
7. The K-r has  movie custom images mode, night scene HDR, cross process mode and IR simple,  which are the only real changes in the functionalities. They are not worthy of a new- book.
8. The k-x has a 2.7" LCD screen and the K-r has a 3" LCD screen.

 I believe that once you learn the primary functions that are the same as the k-x, the four new functions will come easy.



Front view of the K-x.





Front view of the K-r. Slightly modified body with the addition of the AF assist light.



Rear view of the K-x.

Rear view of the K-r. Note that the function buttons are the same. The body is slightly different and the LCD screen measures 3" diagonal as compared to 2.7" on the K-x.

There you have it. If you need a reference manual other than the confusing owner's manual, the K-x e-book is what you need. The Owner's manual shows you what, the K-x e-book shows you what, why, when and how, with plenty of illustrations and real images, and written in  laymen terms. Download a free sample of the book from this page: Pentax e-books.

Thank you for your visit,

Yvon Bourque



AlettA photographic will launch its e-commerce store in the next few days. Accessories for Pentax, Nikon and Canon will be available.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

If you follow this blog, you already know about my current endeavor "The AlettA Photographic". If this is your first visit,  AlettA Photographic is a new business that is offering accessories for  Pentax, Nikon, Canon and other DSLRs. Although the introduction of AlettA Photographic was mainly concentrated around our new Stabilizer, other products will be offered as well.  

AllettA Photographic Stabilizer, available custom-made for Pentax K-5 and K-7, Canon EOS 5D and EOS 7D, Nikon D7000, D700 and D300S.  Generic Stabilizers are also available for all DSLRs. Just let us know your camera model and make.

 

A few weeks back, I did a survey on daily visits to blogsites like mine and forum sites as well. I was under the impression that traffic had slowed down, not only on my site, but on all internet sites in general. My counter registers how many visitors I have everyday, but since more and more people use RSS feed and other ways to follow someone's blog, the counter showed a decline in visitors. With iPhones and other Smart phones, in addition to the new trend in tablets such as the iPad, more and more people are surfing the Internet from their mobile devices. They don't actually log onto blogs, but receive RSS feeds that emails them the blog sites they are interested in, and that every time something new is posted.

I believe that sitting in front of a PC, using a big qwerty keyboard to surf the net is on its way out. Smart phones and Tablets are on their way in. Most are using 3G and 4G  (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and others) to stay connected to the Internet all day long and Wi-Fi connections are available almost everywhere. Just about everyone is on Facebook and Twitter. In fact, my blog is transmitted to Facebook and Twitter automatically every time I post something new.

...back to AlettA Photographic, I wanted to launch my e-commerce store so that it would reach the greatest amount of people possible, (after all I believe that my current and future products will be well received by photographers all over the world). I found the solution in a company called http://mybigcommerce.com/.

In a few days, my e-commerce store will open, with shopping carts, photographs of available items, videos, detailed descriptions, reviews and comments, and secure purchase capability with all major credit cards. What's more, it will simultaneously be broadcast in a mobile devices compatibility mode for iPhones, smart phones and tablets. Everyone will be able to visit my e-commerce store, window shop, purchase items, leave reviews and comments,all  from their smart phones and on the fly. The internet is going through some changes and I am lucky to live in such an era. Of course, you will also be able to log on using your PC or iMac as well.

Check the e-commerce store in the days to come. http://www.alettaphoto.com/

This is what the e-store will look like on a regular PC or iMac.

This is what it will look like on smart phones, in this case, my iPhone.

Every available items will be displayed in an easy to see form.



You will be able to shop and add items to your shopping cart.



Reviews from users will be available and you will be able to review the many availkable items you purchase.

Additional images and videos will be accessible directly on your smart phone to help in your decision making.

  

Window shop, purchase, pay with any major credit card, and receive your item a few days later, all done from your PC or smart phone. Aint technology grand! 

  Thank you for your visit and don't forget to check http://www.alettaphoto.com/ in the next few days.

Yvon Bourque

Back from Florida and back to work. I wish I could spend all my time taking pictures.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

Here are some final images from my trip to Florida. There's nothing like a week of vacation to lift your spirit. I have to say that Florida is a very photogenic State. The skies are beautiful and the sunsets are gorgeous, almost every night.

Everything has an end in our world, and this mini vacation too couldn't last forever. I will be working hard in the coming weeks, designing the Web-Store for AlettA Photographic. Custom Stabilizers are now in stock for Pentax, Nikon and Canon most popular DSLRs. The Stabilizers can also be adapted to most DSLRs by simply locating the mounting screw to your specifications (More on this in the coming days). The AllettA Photographic Web-Store will carry all kind of useful and uniquely designed accessories and e-books.

Now that I'm at home, I will resume posting on this site every day.

They are strange looking birds indeed.

Don't be afraid of manipulating some of your images. Sometimes, breaking all the rules produces interesting results.

Children running after the seagulls is a sure sign of summer in Florida.

This is nothing spectacular in Florida, it's like that every night.

I was young too at one time. This is my granddaughter having fun.



This man, dressed like a  soldier of the 1600's era, was really interesting. 



I think I could live on one of these.

Thank you for visiting,

Yvon Bourque

Venting about the Barnes and Nobles Nook Color. Like they say, if you don't have an iPad...well...you don't have an iPad.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

A while back, around January, I purchased a new Barnes and Nobles Nook Color. At $249.00 it seemed to be a good alternative to the iPad, since it was giving access to the Internet and emails. Many applications were to be introduced in January. It was going to be a good Droid tablet. Although it is sluggist and slow, and that the touch sensitive surface is crappy, and that there are not that many books available, and that there are only two photography magazines you can purchase, and that the apps are mostly for children, it was okay for me. But...when I purchased a new book and an app, everything went down to hell. They took my money from my credit card but the book and app never dowloaded. The spinning wheel kept on spinning with no delivery of anything.

Finally, today I went to the Barnes and Nobles store in Florida, where I'm staying for the week. The Nook rep at the book store called the "Special" telephone number  to get my Nook fixed. They made him reset the nook completely and then all books, magazines and applications I already purchased were to be automatically be reloaded. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. They had me reinter my email, and wanted me to enter the credit card again. "I don't think so" I said, since the credit card had already been charged. I was afraid they would charge it again. "There nothing I can do" he said until you do and then you will have to call this 800 number to get the magazines, books and apps you already purchased. So I told him I would sell the Nook on EBay and purchase an iPad, which I should have purchased to begin with.

So, if you were contemplating buying a Nook, think twice. It's a piece of crap and has the a rotten servicet.

I will save my money and buy an iPad. Like they say, if you don't have an ipad...well...you don't have an ipad.

Images from St-Augustine Florida, Pentax K-5

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

Today my wife and I spent the day in St-Augustine with my Grand Daughter "Ayla". We had a great time from starting the day on a merry-go-round, to a boat tour, to ice cream, chocolate, and buying clothing and jewelry. We even had some idiots announcing the end of the world for this coming Saturday. They scared my grand daughter. I had to tell her these people were crazy and tell everyone around that they should maxout their credit cards now before it was too late.

St-Augustine is the oldest city in the United States.It is quite an interesting place.

We started the day by letting Ayla ride the Merry-go-round several times.

Then is was some playtime in the park.

Pushed her on a swing set for a while.

 

Took a boat tour and saw some interesting wild birds.

 

Ayla even helped making her own lemonade.



This is Mister Pelican that we saw along the shore.

What are they going to do past Saturday...make new signs or cross the date and put a new one?

My wife and Ayla in the Town Square.

 


We listened to  interesting stories about the way it was at the Castillo de San Marcos, in the 1600's. (By the way, this picture was made using the Stabilizer set on the ground with the front legs extended so that the camera aimed at the Soldier.)

 

This is the Castillo de San Marcos.

There was one of these at each corner of the fort.

Thank for stopping by,

Yvon Bourque

Florida with the Pentax K-5, and how to save your camera from a mini flood. :)

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

My daughter was married this past Saturday and it was a great wedding. I would post some pictures  but it might be too personal to share here.

I am spending the rest of the week in Florida and today we drove to Amelia Island and took a few pictures. They are nothing special but they show the flexibility of the K-5 at high ISO.

Moon over Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

Amelia Island's Courthouse.



Favorite mode of transportation along the beach.



Do you know what could happen to your camera if a glass of Rhum and Coke were to hit it? Well,  with the Aletta Stabilizer attached, the liquid goes right unver the equipment.

Thank you for visiting,

Yvon Bourque

I am in Florida this week for the wedding of my youngest daughter. With luck, me and my K-5 will make some good pictures in Florida.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.


I am in Florida this week for the wedding of my youngest daughter. With luck, me and my K-5 will make some good pictures in Florida.We got here today and it was a long flight from California.

I don't know who this guy is, but before the flight was over, he was listening to his iPod from his right eye and the back of his head!



We changed plane in Las Vegas and had an hour wait. My wife won $90.00 after a few spin and I won $40.00. We cashed it all in immediately. That is a pretty good return on our investment of less than $20.00.



On our way to Florida, somewhere over Nevada.



All pictures above were taken from my iPhone. The Pentax was in the storage bins.

Beep ! Beep ! Vroommm. My brother and I were there to see the road runner in action with our Pentax DSLRs.

  

email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

My brother and I were visiting the Anza Borrego Desert State Park about a month ago. We were there mostly to take pictures of the California wild flowers. However, a strange bird met us near the entrance of the park. My brother had his Pentax K-x with the 50-200mm kit lens. I had my Pentax K-5 and the K-7 as a backup. I had dropped the K-5 a few days before but all seemed to be okay, until I tried to shoot the road runner. The camera would not get in focus, even in manual mode. There was too much back focusing. Lucky for me, I had the K-7 and exchanged the camera quickly. I was only able to take about 10 shots before I heard Beep! Beep! and it was gone.

The truth of the matter is that I wasn't able to capture that wild bird as much as I would have liked to. As for the K-5, Pentax fixed it, but I don't recommend dropping it from eye level to a concrete floor.

So I credit my brother Roland  for most of the images below. I shot No. 2 and 6, the rest are his images. I used the Tokina 400mm lens and I wish the K-5 would have been used with my now "new" Pentax DA* 300mm".  What can one do...like they say, the best camera is the one you have with you.



Admit it, we all would have like for Wile Coyote to get him at some point.



There is definitely a resemblance.

P.S. Maybe an "Acme Corporation" camera and lens would have been better for taking pictures of the road runner...according to Wile Coyote.

Thank you for visiting,

Yvon Bourque