Edwin Villanueva

While doing the Journey Into Africa Tour a couple of weeks ago at W.A.P, we had a brief encounter with this little guy on the trail. He was actually “outside the fences” so I’m not really sure he was part of the attraction. Nonetheless, he gave us a great photo opportunity.

I Heart Gorillas.

Next to the Lion Camp and Cheetah exhibits, I love watching the Gorillas at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I’ve always been fascinated by them since I was a little kid and being able to see them in such a close proximity has been a dream come true. I can literally sit for hours just watching them interact with each other.

Here are few facts about Gorillas:

- Gorillas are the largest of the living primates.

-The DNA of gorillas is 98%–99% identical to that of a human, and they are the next closest living relatives to humans after the chimpanzee species.

-Gorillas live in tropical or subtropical forests.

For more information, check out the Wikipedia on Gorillas.

I met up with my brother-in-law Ramel and nephew Tobey at the golf range after lunch today. Tobey is pretty active in different sports like gymnastics, swimming, tennis, karate and of course, golf. I took some pictures of his swing and finally had the opportunity to use the 6.3 fps (frames per second) of the 50D. With the exception of wearing two gloves (my dads influence on him), he’s not doing to bad.

Tiger Woods in the making? I think he’s heading in the right direction.

I’ve been playing around with Lightroom and Photoshop to help give my photos a little different look. Its really incredible how powerful these tools are to completely change the feel and look of a photo. Below are examples of the same photo after running it through Lightroom and Photoshop.

Original Photo Straight Out of the Camera.

Photo after making exposure, contrast and saturation adjustments in Lightroom.

The final image after running some actions in Photoshop.

Last month I rented lenses for the very first time…ever! Thanks to my experience with LensProToGo.com, it probably won’t be my last.

I had friends and family visiting throughout the month of May and I was planning on taking lots of pictures. Considering the itinerary of places we were planning to go, I would be taking different types of pictures ranging from portraits, landscape and wildlife. For the Canon 50D, the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 IS zoom lenses would cover all of the focal ranges that I would be expecting to take. With the prices of good lenses reaching $1000+, it was a no brainer to go the rental route.

First off, the company caters specifically to Canon and Nikon dslr cameras. The website and online reservation system are pretty user friendly. When you click on the brand of camera, Canon or Nikon, you are given a list of lenses that they carry. The page indicates if the item is in stock with a simple yes or no. Yes – they carry the lens and there is at least one copy in stock. No – they carry the lens but all copies of the lens are currently out of stock. If the item is not in stock, you’re encouraged to call and speak to a customer service representative to reserve for a future date or you can leave your email to be notified when the item becomes available. Pricing and rental time are also provided on the page. Shipping price in both direction is already included in the price. A big surprise is no tax.

After the order is placed, you will be notified via email when the order is shipped and provided the tracking number. All shipping is through FedEx and is 2 day shipping. Overnight shipping is also available for those who need the lens immediately but you will need to speak to a customer rep to reserve the lens. All lenses are shipped in pelican cases to avoid any damage while in transit and the actual rental period starts when FedEx electronically confirms delivery or attempts delivery. The package also includes the return shipping label that you will use when you return the lens.

The lenses that I rented were both in working order but did show signs of wear which is typical anytime you rent. They came with both front and rear caps. I was a little disappointed they didn’t come with UV filters and the 17-55mm didn’t come with a lens hood. With the cost of repairs, you would think they would provide those items to prevent accidental damage to the glass. This was a minor con since I like to take good care of my gear.

Towards the end of the rental period, they send an email reminder when the lens is due and also give you an option to extend the rental period. To return the lens, just repack all items in the pelican case and the box that it came in, stick the return shipping label on the box and drop it off to FedEx. The transit times to and from LensProToGo do NOT count toward the rental period.

Overall, my first online rental transaction with LensProToGo was quite positive and I will definitely use them again in the future.

You can check out their new blog and follow them on Twitter.