Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

Summer's almost here, and we made our annual May jaunt to the Jersey Shore. The full name of the park we call Sandy Hook is "Gateway National Recreation Area." As far as we're concerned, it has everything anyone could ask for: several of the white sand beaches New Jersey is famous for, deserted military bunkers, miles of bike trails and a light house. Plus it's nearby and never seems overcrowded.

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.

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.

Most digital cameras don’t come with memory cards these days. Instead, many have onboard memory where you can store a handful of images. The amount they include is usually meager, but it’s better than nothing.