Photo taken with a Panasonic DMC-LX5. f2.2 iso80 1/100th.

Amazon has lots of markdowns on camera products. You can still get them in time for Christmas.

I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to get a press photo pass at the US Senior Open because I wanted to get photos of everything BUT the players: crowds, people watching, standing in concession lines, landscapes, etc. The USGA assured me that their photographers would get all the photos I needed and that I could use as many as I liked from their photo lightbox. But, just as I suspected, what their photographers produced was pretty much all the same: player swinging, player swinging, player swinging, player swinging. I knew that’s what would happen because every guy I saw with a lens was taking the same photo from the same angle (just different players on different holes). I’m surprised that the USGA doesn’t want more “atmosphere” photos for their archives. I’d have a guy wandering about with a camera with orders to shoot everything but players swinging.

Japanese photographer Makato Uchida takes the photos I’d like to take. He’s got a great blog with shots here. Some are of the “player swinging” variety, but others show a much better photographer’s eye.

Spotted at the Coyote Preserve golf course in Fenton, Michigan.

Photo taken with a Canon Rebel Xsi, 270mm, iso 100, 1/80, f 6.3

Summer Camera Sale At Amazon

Get a small one and put it in your golf bag. I always find something interesting to photograph on the course.

Get one with video, and you can have your partner record your swing for later analysis.

For today only, Amazon’s offering the Canon Powershot A490 for just $49. This is a decent 10 megapixel camera, but the main attraction is its size. I never go out on the course without at least a compact camera in the bag. I’ll take the big Canon Rebel with an 18-270 zoom to new courses, to ones that I know are particularly scenic or that have a good chance of wildlife. But for my home rounds, a small camera like this one does the trick. You never know what you’ll see on the course. I also like the fact that this takes AA batteries, like my earlier Canon compact. With a batter operated model, you don’t have to worry about recharging the lithium, or getting out on the course with a great pix, only to find that the battery has died.

Amazon is having a one-day sale on Photoshop Lightroom. I do all of my image sorting and processing with this software. It’s terrific and easy to use.

The regular price is $299, and its available now for $119. I’m going to pick up a second copy for my office computers (my current copy is on my desktop machine at home).