Autofocus systems, as good as they are these days, aren't perfect. A modern camera's AF is a complex opto-electro-mechanical system, and while they are manufactured to incredible tolerances, there is usually some final calibration that must be done by the photographer to account for the quirks of his particular equipment. Here's how to do that calibration.

There appears to be something of an obsession among the blogosphere's photography equipment reviewers with "professional" versus "amateur" equipment. It's remarkable how strong reviewers' opinions can become on this topic.

I love shooting at night. In the absence of natural light, the mundane can become extraordinary.

And while I'm not exactly a cold-weather person, winter does have its charms. Especially at night.

Sorting through some of my old files, I came across this series of images. Several days of icy wind storms had churned up Lake Ontario, and the spray froze onto whatever it touched- in this case, the street lamps along the waterfront pathway at Spencer Smith Park in Burlington, Ontario. The resulting sculptures, lit from within by sodium-vapour bulbs, were marvelous.

It's February. It's Canada. There should be ice.

But this is what Collins Bay looks like today:

And here's the same place last week.