The Jim Zim Photo Gallery Some of the best pictures taken by Jim Zimmerlin

Photography is a favorite hobby of mine.  I remember taking pictures with a Kodak "Brownie" camera when I was a kid, and even developing and printing some of my own pictures in a darkroom in junior high school.  After getting married and starting a family in the 1980s, I made it a priority to get a good 35mm Canon SLR camera so that I could take high quality photos of the kids.

Here in the 21st century, I still have that love for photography...  and I'm enjoying it more than ever thanks to all the advances in technology.  I've owned about a dozen digital cameras over the years!  I started with a 1-megapixel Olympus point-and-shoot, which would be laughable by today's standards.  These days I have two cameras in my arsenal:  a Canon EOS70D, the best camera I've ever owned...  as well as a small, waterproof Olympus camera that really comes in handy when I'm snorkeling in the Caribbean or going down a waterslide on a cruise ship.

While I've certainly learned over the years that a good camera doesn't guarantee a great picture, and that a great photographer can get a good photo from just about any camera, I've come to appreciate good photo equipment!

I've probably taken tens of thousands of pictures over the years.  Here are some of my favorites from the digital era.

Close-Up Look At A Pelican

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel XTi
I was trying to get a shot of the sunset from the cliffs above Pismo Beach,
and discovered a flock of very tame pelicans that let me get right up next to them.

Sunset At Pismo Beach

camera:  Canon EOS 10D
After buying my first "L" series lens, I headed down to the beach at sunset to see what it could do.

"Dodger" in mid-air

camera:  Canon EOS 10D
Of all the photos I've ever taken, I think this one is actually my favorite!

The Carnival Glory at Grand Turk in the Caribbean

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel T2i with 18-135mm EF-S lens
If you imagine where I was standing to take this shot...
just behind me is Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.
See more of my cruise photos here.

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant at dawn

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel XTi with 17-85 mm EF-S lens
This is probably the best photo I've taken at Diablo Canyon since I started working in the mailroom 20+ years ago.
This photo made it to the cover of an industry magazine,
and a framed print hangs in the office of our company president.
Notice the goats grazing on the hillside!

A spectacular sunrise at sea

camera:  Canon EOS 70D

"Wally" relaxes during a photo session

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ10
I think I really captured the beauty of this gorgeous boy with this shot!
I had him sitting up while I took photo after photo...  but none of them were anything special.
Finally, he got tired of our photo session and he just relaxed like this.
That's when I got the one good shot of the day!

Glacier Bay, Alaska

camera:  Canon EOS 70D with 100-400mm  "L" series lens
If you're in to photography, a cruise to Alaska is the vacation of a lifetime!
Out of the hundreds of photos I took on our Alaska cruise, this was my favorite.

Wildflowers along the California coast

camera:  Canon EOS 10D
This is a panoramic photo stitched together from four individual images.
Click on the small photo above to see a larger, more detailed version.
Your browser will probably resize the large version of the photo to fit your screen.
Point your mouse in the lower right corner of the large version of the photo, and click on the "enlarge" button to see the full photo.
Be sure to scroll your browser window to the right to see the entire full sized photo.

Sunrise over the Pacific ocean - off the coast of Mexico

camera:  Olympus Stylus 1050SW
People probably assume this is a sunset picture, but it was actually sunrise...
as seen from the deck of the Carnival Spirit cruise ship off the coast of Mexico.
Normally, I use my Canon Digital Rebel for gorgeous scenic shots like this...
but in this case I hadn't gone out looking to take a great photo.
I was just out for a walk around the ship and happened to stumble on to this beautiful scene.
Luckily, I had slipped my little Olympus camera in to my pocket before leaving my cabin.

A beautiful sable colored Cocker Spaniel

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel XSi with 100-400mm "L" series lens

My grand-niece, Gwyneth

Is she a cutie, or what?
camera:  Canon Digital Rebel XSi

The sun's rays filter through an oak tree

camera:  Olympus D320L
I shot this with my very first digital camera...  a very simple 1 megapixel point-and-shoot.
It just shows that even a fairly unsophisticated camera can capture a good photo in the right hands.

Pismo Beach just before dark

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ20
The day this camera arrived, I headed down to the beach at sunset to see if I could get a good picture from it.
I like the composition of this photo, but in terms of actual image quality...
compare it to any of the photos on this page from Canon cameras and you'll see it's simply inferior.

The Carnival Glory heads out to sea from the Port Of Miami

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel T5i with L-series 100-400mm image stabilized zoom lens
This is a great example of what an image stabilized lens will do for you.
I shot this from the Carnival Breeze, which was a few minutes ahead of the Glory.
I was shooting handheld with the zoom lens fully extended to 400mm.

The east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains

camera:  Minolta DiMAGE S404
Another beautiful composition, but shot with another inferior early-generation digital camera.
I should drive back up there some time, and try to get this same photo with my current camera.

Two cuties from Morgan's second litter of puppies

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel XTi with 70-200mm "L" series lens
I always imagine a "thought bubble" above this picture,
with the left puppy saying something cute to the right one.

The sun sets as a family plays at Avila Beach

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ10
I took this photo on New Years Eve on my way home from work.
When I saw the sunset out my car's window, I was very glad I had my camera with me!

The Carnival Elation in San Diego Bay

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel XSi with 100-400mm "L" series lens
I was visiting my son who went to college in San Diego and noticed that Carnival Elation was in port that day.
I found a hillside overlooking the bay and waited for her to head out to sea so I could get this shot.
Notice the USS Midway aircraft carrier (a museum) in the background.
Another cool thing about this photo is the heat plume coming out of the ship's smokestacks.

Sydney and "Dusty"

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel XTi with 70-200mm "L" series lens
This is the cover photo from the coffee table book that I published in 2009.

A Glacier In Alaska

camera:  Canon EOS 70D
I couldn't tell you the name of this particular glacier,
because we saw so many on our Alaska cruise that I lost track of them all.
It's scary how much they've receded over the last few hundred years.

Pelicans doing what pelicans do

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ20

Spring wildflowers at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant - May 2010

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel T2i with 18-135mm EF-S lens
A beautiful scene one Spring morning at my "real job"...  early in the morning, at first light

The sun sets at the Pismo pier

camera:  Canon EOS 10D
If the brightness and contrast of your monitor are set correctly, you can see the people and the railings on the pier.
If not set correctly, you pretty much just see a black blob in the lower left quarter of the screen
 

Cute girl + cute pup = cute photo

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel T2i with 18-135mm EF-S lens
After 15 years of breeding Cocker Spaniel puppies,
I've shot several hundred variations on the cute girl + cute puppy photo.
This is one of my favorites.  The girl's mom is one of my co-workers at PG&E.

Another look at the wildflowers at Diablo Canyon power plant

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ10
For a month or so each Spring, the hills east of the plant are like a scene out of the Wizard of Oz

San Simeon, California

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ10
The two guys launching their kayak add a nice detail to the photo

My nephew's football team

camera:  Canon EOS 10D
My first Digital SLR camera looked so impressive with a big lens mounted on it
that someone at this football game asked me what newspaper I was shooting for.

The lighthouse at Pt. San Luis

camera:  Minolta DiMAGE S404
One of San Luis Obispo county's hidden treasures

Abby's first litter poses on a bench

camera:  Minolta DiMAGE S404
Getting this many puppies to sit still for a photo is incredibly difficult!

A storm heads towards Shell Beach

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ20
I was just driving down the freeway with no intention of taking any pictures when I saw the light coming through the clouds like this.  You never saw a guy get off the freeway so fast!

A natural rock arch on the California coast

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ10
Getting the bird in the shot made all the difference!

The San Luis Obispo county coastline

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ20
This is what I see on my drive home from work each afternoon.

Sunset at the Columbia River in Washington

camera:  Olympus D320L
If you look carefully, you can see my son, daughter, sister, and brother-in-law

Me and my niece, Kindra

camera:  Panasonic DMC-FZ10
Self-portrait of the photographer and his favorite niece, using a tripod and a timer.

A baby bird in the nest

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel T2i with 18-135mm EF-S lens
OK, I admit that I wasn't the actual photographer...  although I did assist in getting this shot.
I was helping my favorite niece shoot some photos for the county fair.
This one won a big ribbon!

A "selfie" with Mrs. Zim

camera:  Canon Digital Rebel T5i with EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 image stabilized STM lens
This is why I bring a tripod along with me on a cruise.
I refuse to buy the over-priced photos they sell on the ship.
Using a tripod and the self-timer, I can shoot my own.

Please note:  All of these photos are the original copyrighted works of Jim Zimmerlin.  Make arrangements with me first if you want to use any of these photos for commercial purposes.

List Of Digital Cameras I've Owned

Olympus D-320
Minolta DiMAGE S404
Panasonic Lumix FZ10
Panasonic Lumix FZ20
Canon EOS 10D
Canon Digital Rebel XTi
Canon Digital Rebel XSi
Olympus Stylus 1050SW (Waterproof camera)
Canon Digital Rebel T2i
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3  (Waterproof camera)
Canon Digital Rebel T5i
Olympus Stylus TG-830 (Waterproof camera)
Canon EOS 70D

It all started with a 1 megapixel Olympus point-and-shoot!  Later, the Panasonic Lumix cameras were a great step up...  they offered a whole lot of value for not very much money...  back in the day when I couldn't afford the best cameras.  Later, a friend gave me a Canon EOS10D that she found too bulky and too complicated...  and that's when I got hooked on the quality of the Canon digital SLRs.  Every year or two since then, I've upgraded to better and better Canon cameras.

On vacations, I also take a waterproof camera along with me, so I can get pictures while I'm snorkeling or swimming or going down a waterslide.  I've had three different waterproof cameras over the years. 

Whenever I know I'm going to be in a situation with the potential for a great picture, I try to bring my Canon along with me so I can get the best photo.  Over the years, the vast majority of my photos have been shot with Canon digital SLRs.

However, sometimes I find myself in situations where there's a great photo to be taken, but all I have is my cell phone with me!  Luckily, my HTC One phone takes pretty good photos, and even better videos.  Here's an example:

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