The surprise beach trip with Andy last week was pretty darn fun, but it deposited some hefty chunks of dust onto my camera’s sensor. So, now I have to get it cleaned somehow, and it looks like cleaning supplies could run me $150! Since I’m leaving in a few days, waiting for shipping really isn’t feasible; I guess I’ll have to get it cleaned some place in town.

Working with the D70 is an interesting experience. It's a very different feeling from the 4500, partly due to the camera itself, and also to the RAW workflow. The photographs I've taken with the new camera are more complex, expansive, and subtle. The clear, bold colors that I'm used to with the 4500 don't feel right for the images that I've taken time to work with, even though the levels distribution is even.

I've been working with F-Spot, UFRaw, and the Gimp for my image workflow, which has proven effective, if unfamiliar. It's difficult to predict how a given set of parameters will transform the RAW data, and I expect it will be some time before I become adept at the process. Getting color right is hard.