njnancy wrote: "Do you have any suggestions about digital vs. 35mm and camcorder/camera as opposed to separate ones. I had one of those large camcorders about 7 years ago, but the tape got stuck inside and it hasn't worked since, so I really don't have any 'movies' of my son. And I would love to try my hand at taping a song or two at a concert; although I love portraits most of all."

Well... I have gotten pretty spoiled with the instantaneous results I get from digital. It would be difficult to return to 35mm film photography at this point, though the quality of film is still better in terms of resolution. It's so nice to be able to see the results of the various settings & adjust on the fly rather than waiting & wondering if they'll turn out when I get the film developed! In fact, I have a colleague at work that used to be a professional photographer in a prior career, & he has offered me a good deal on his (film) camera equipment, since he no longer uses it. I haven't decided yet if it is worth the extra investment to try to do both, or just stick with digital. I will definitely use digital for concerts. There is just too much variability in the lighting to take a chance that I've got them correct without seeing the results.

I may not be the best one to answer whether to go with separate camera & camcorder or a combination unit, since I don't use them. I used to have a separate videocamcorder, and it worked very well to take video of my son when he was a baby, but it's defintely outdated technology now. You might try checking with some of the well-known video aficianados in Clay's fanbase. There are quite a few of them out there that can give you good advice in this area. I can tell you that my Canon S2 IS takes video as well as stills, and it works very well. You can even zoom while the video is being shot, which is not the case with all of them. I don't use it much. My "first love" is taking photographs.

Speaking of which, I have been remiss in not bringing over my Bonnie Raitt photos. I posted my album a while ago, but forgot to update my blog. Here they are:

Bonnie Raitt - Clearwater, FL - February 2006.

She puts on a very nice show, & the lighting was excellent. It is very "pure" musically. I really enjoyed the band's versatility. I'm pretty sure she changed the setlist at least twice during the concert. They also performed a few numbers in "creole" mode in honor of the New Orleans recovery efforts. It wasn't quite as exciting as a Clay Aiken or Ricky Martin concert, but it was very musically satisfying.

This week is going to be very eventful for me & my son. This week, he is competing in the Future Problem Solvers competition. His team came in second in the Regional competition, so they are representing his school at the State competition. It is a very exciting time for him!

Since I've been posting so seldom recently, I thought I'd try to make up for it by going back through my photos & seeing if I had missed any decent ones along the way. I found a few photos of Clay from the Rochester Hills JBT that I had not posted before.
I hope you enjoy them:

Quotes of the Day:

"If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were." - Richard Bach

"Some people confuse acceptance with apathy, but there's all the difference in the world. Apathy fails to distinguish between what can and what cannot be helped; acceptance makes that distinction. Apathy paralyzes the will-to-action; acceptance frees it by relieving it of impossible burdens.” - Arthur Gordon