Since I have had several comments and questions about my photography, I figured I'd make a post. Thank you for all the nice comments I have received as well. I always try to post many photos since they make my posts more interesting. Just as when reading a magazine, I don't always read every article, but sometimes just skim through the photos. I'm sure you all agree that they are also very helpful when explaining projects and showing before and after pictures. I really wanted to document my new teak work because when doing my research, often people would post what they used, but not provide photos. I took the risk of trying the new Cetol Natural Teak without really seeing it, just taking into consideration that some people said they liked it. I am very happy with my results.

The majority of the pictures I take are with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 pictured here:


It's a 6 mega pixel with a 12X optical zoom Leica lens. The zoom is awesome, although if the water is choppy, then as you can imagine it is difficult to properly frame your object zoomed way in. If you can manage to capture an image of something zoomed in, it can be better than binoculars especially using the electronic magnification during review. You can find more details here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz7/.

My second camera is a smaller, cheaper 4 mega pixel Canon PowerShot A520. This is the one I clamp onto the boat hook to get some cool angles using a Clamperpod mount.


The picture quality varies with this camera. In some lighting conditions the photos come out very grainy, for example see the picture above of my Lumix. Since it was inexpensive, I don't mind taking some more risky shots with it. What I really want to get is one of the water proof Olympus cameras. They have a line of different colors, models, and they are very small and slim. Then I won't have to worry about getting my camera wet. Some of the most exciting times would make some great photos, but I don't want to risk damaging my cameras and so they often stay down below.

The only editing I do to my photos before uploading to Webshots and my blog is to straighten the horizon and sometimes make a slight adjustment to the lighting or brightness. I use Google's free Picasa software for those minor tweaks and for organizing all my photos. It's definitely a great program to check out if you have not yet. I've never taken any photography courses, just read some book several years ago to learn another hobby, just as I did sailing.

If anyone has questions or comments, please send me a message.

I've been real busy lately starting an awesome new job which will have me traveling to the Netherlands and possibly other parts of Europe. Maybe I'll get to try some sailing over there!