Right now, Amazon.Com is is offering deep discounts on cameras and camcorders

A nice stocking stuffer for the photographer

Photo processing tip: How to create an HDR image in Lightroom from a single RAW file

Pajamas Media has an interesting article on how the media consistently gets it wrong on climate change.

Here’s a great paragraph, illustrating why I refuse to believe the climatologists this time around after being fooled into thinking in the 1970s that there was going to be a new ice age:

On November 15, 1969, Science News quoted meteorologist Dr. J. Murray Mitchell Jr.: “How long the current cooling trend continues is one of the most important problems of our civilizations. … If the cooling continues for another 200 to 300 years the Earth could be plunged into an ice age.” On January 11, 1970, the Washington Post reported: “Colder Winters Held Dawn of New Ice Age. … Better get a good grip on your long johns, cold weather haters, the worst may be yet to come.” Fortune reported in February 1974: “It is the root cause of a lot of that unpleasant weather around the world and they warn that it carries the potential for human disasters of unprecedented magnitude.” (Sound familiar?) On June 24, Time wrote: “Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age.” Newsweek said on April 28, 1975: “The Earth’s climate seems to be cooling down. … [Meteorologists were] Almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century.”

So it looked like we were on the precipice of a new ice age with cataclysmic consequences for the world. Then, unannounced to all, the Pacific Ocean began to warm again, and so did the Earth’s temperature.

The bottom line. The earth gets cooler. The earth gets warmer. Thus it has always been. Thus it always will be.

The last line in the article is most interesting: There has been no evidence of warming in the last ten years. This goes to a second core belief of mine: that government institutions, research scientists and the media will cook the numbers to suit their immediate purposes. The global warming types say that there is a warming trend over the last 25 years or so. The latest from NASA says that lakes have warmed over the last 25 years. I believe those dates are chosen very specifically to prove their point. In contrast, what would the numbers say if we looked only at the last five, or last ten. Or what would they say if we studied the last 50? They choose the data to suit their hypothesis.

Global Warming Scientific Method: Begin with a conclusion. Gather data. Throw out data which does not support the conclusion. Ridicule those who challenge data.

Just a placeholder for a couple of food photography links. I’m thinking about trying this out in the winter off-months.

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/angles-for-food-photography?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+DigitalPhotographySchool+(Digital+Photography+School)

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/food-photography-techniques-and-tips

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/food-photography-an-introduction

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/10-tips-for-mouth-watering-food-photography