Death of a Camera

Two weeks ago my camera, a Canon EOS 40D, developed a fatal problem. The much talked about (on web forums) Error 99. This issue started mild. One error. Than a couple of days later a few errors. At this point I researched the problem on line and found some DIY fixes. Tried them and it seemed to do the trick. Then a few a days later the problem returned with a vengeance. While shooting a job the camera kept telling me "Error 99..." about every other shot. Sometimes I was able to go for about 10 shots or so, than it would yell at me again. By the end of the job the camera completely quite on me.

YIKES

I called Canon immediately upon returning to my office. They had me try a few things out and determined it had to come in for repair. Off it went. Bad thing was, my camera is just out of the 1 year warranty period! another Yikes. However, the Canon repair person told me that they do not advertise this, but they usually give a 90 day grace period on out of warranty issues such as this! So I was saved from the expense of paying for the repair.

One other quip about this ordeal is the fact that I have belonged to the network of Canon professional users for 5 years, CPS. They offer expedited repairs for their members, as well as loaners. Well this year they changed some of their requirements. One of which was what equipment allowed you to qualify for membership. I have lots of Canon gear, all of which qualified last year... but not this year, some of the stuff they consider too old, even though I use it all to earn a living everyday. Because of this I had to go through regular repair channels and wait 10 days for the repair/return instead of the CPS time frame of 3 days!

Well, I just found out that my repaired main camera is on it's way back to me. Can't wait to start shooting with it again!

Marley and..... Well, John!

A few years back I had the pleasure of meeting John Grogan and photographing him for Lehigh Valley Magazine. He's a very personable guy. I have to admit (sorry, John!) that I have yet to read the famous book. But a few weeks back, a very good friend and I went to see the movie. What a ride! If you have ever owned/loved pets, especially hard-to-train ones, this story will pull on every string your heart has.


My buddy and writer/co-adventure seeker Luke Rettig wrote the story for Lehigh Valley Mag. Here is a link to his site, and the story he wrote. I encourage you to stroll through his site and take in his other stories; he is quite the wordsmith, and an excellent storyteller. I went back and reread what Luke wrote. That combined with seeing the movie inspired me to finally read John's book, which I've now purchased.



So here are a couple more shots I took of John and his family's new lab, Gracie. She is better behaved than Marley was, and no less loved. I had a great time photographing both of them. I encourage anyone who has yet to read the book, or see the movie, to take it in one way or the other or both. You won't be disappointed!