How old were you when you took your first picture? By yourself, I mean, not while an adult was looking purposefully over your shoulder. If you remember that moment then you know how exciting and meaningful it is for youngsters to begin taking pictures at an early age.

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National Park Service Will Waive Entrance Fees During National Park Week

Olympus was kind enough to lend me a 150mm f2.0 Zuiko lens for some personal shooting. I recently bought a new E-520 at an incredible price because it’s a discontinued model. Even so, it has a rich feature set, Image Stabilization and weighs slightly more than a well-dressed chicken taco. It also offers Live View, Dust Reduction and Wireless Flash. On close-out, this DSLR body cost me about the same as a high-end point-and-shoot.

Weighing in at just over 1-lbs but packing more features than many bigger, heavier cameras, Panasonic’s new Lumix DMC-FZ40 might make you think twice about that heavy load of gear you’ve been packing. Here is a camera you can carry around all day and never get tired.

I read George Schaub’s review of the Olympus 25mm f2.8 pancake lens on Shutterbug.com and, faster than you could say “Zuiko,” I bought one. This was only the second time in my life that I purchased something because I read a positive review about it. The only other time was many years ago when I bought a Bolens Mulching Lawnmower. Sadly, that adventure ended abruptly in tragedy when the mower impaled itself on a hidden iron survey stake one week later.

Above images where shot by Kerrick James using a Pentax K-7. The top image is without HDR, the middle using Standard HDR and the bottom with HDR set at Strong.