If you're reading this then chances are that you're into photography. This is the QJ photography blog after all. With that said, perhaps you may find this little how-to interesting.

Jay Bedingfield posted this little tut on making a homemade muslin photography background on DIYPhotograpy.net. Muslin is a type of finely-woven cotton fabric and is often the cloth of choice for theater sets. With the right colors, it can be used to set the mood of any number of scenes, and with the right lighting, a backdrop of a backdrop painted on muslin can appear or vanish, allowing a set to be transformed almost instantaneously from one setting to another.

Nifty, eh? Y'know, looking at the finished product (see pic on top), we think that even if you're not gonna use it for photography or anything of that sort, it would still make a rather good curtain. Oh, and you can also use pretty much the same technique in making tie-dyed shirts.

For the complete set of instructions over at DIYPhotography.net, click on the 'read' link below.

We reported about the Chinese version of Canon's 10.1 megapixel EOS Digital Rebel XTi SLR camera a few days ago, and today we have the real thing. This is Canon's follow-up to the ultra-successful Digital Rebel XT, the camera that set all time sales records for digital SLRs of any persuasion. For 16 years, the Rebel brand has stood for advanced, sophisticated and easy-to-use, and it looks like the new Digital Rebel XTi isn't going to let the family down.

Features include a 2.5-inch LCD which improves on the Xt's 1.8-inch screen, 9-point autofocus, and a 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor. At 22.2 x 14.8 mm in size, this new CMOS sensor maintains the 1.6x conversion ratio found on many other members of the EOS Digital SLR line including the Rebel XT and the EOS 30D models.

The EOS Digital Rebel XTi comes with the new Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit that shakes off dust using ultrasonic vibration. It also has a Dust Delete Data feature that embeds dust location in metadata, helping the included Digital Photo Professional software delete dust spots automatically.

The EOS Digital Rebel XTi camera will be in stores by mid-September and will be available in both sleek brushed silver patina and "pro" matte black finishes. Retail price for the body only kit is estimated at $799, while the zoom lens kit (which includes Canon's EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens) will carry an estimated price tag of $899.

FujiFilm has released the WP-FXF30 underwater housing unit for the FinePix F30 Zoom, allowing F30 owners to take their precious cameras into the water without fear of FUing-up-their-their gear-BAR.

With the WP-FXF30, you need never fear being shoved into the water while taking pictures of girls by the pool or at the beach. Having a fight with your significant other in the rain and you want to take photographic evidence for the ensuing court proceedings? With the WP-FXF30, that's no problem!

Whew. Seems someone's been watching waaaay too many infomercials.

Made from tough, transparent polycarbonate, the WP-FXF30 is good for dives of up to 40 meters deep while retaining the camera's full functionality. That means that the F30 will retain its 6-megapixel glory as well as the 3x camera zoom while it's all snug and safe in the underwater housing. Plus, the WP-FXF30's ISO 100–3200 sensitivity allows for excellent results in the low light of the ocean.

FujiFilm hasn't forgotten about the owners of older FinePix cameras, too. The WP-FXA500 works with both the FinePix A400 and A500 Zoom cameras, providing waterproof protection up to depths of three meters.

The price range for these babies is $144.99 - $179.99. Considering that new F30 cameras can go for prices of over $400 in some stores, it's a pretty good idea to invest in your camera's protection with the WP-FXF30.

Naoshima is a small fishing island off the southern Japan coast on the Seto Inland Sea, between Honshu and Shikoku, within eyeshot of the city of Takamatsu.

During the 1990s, the Benesse Corporation, a Japanese textbook publisher, partnered with architect Tadao Ando to create a series of spectacular contemporary art museums designed around the theme of "Nature and Art." The museum also has hotel rooms where visitors can stay.

Take a gander at these lovely pictures of the area, which were taken by "Telstar Logistics". Looks like a place we'd love to visit someday.

"Take a look - it's worth it!" That's the slogan for the DC 8122, Minox's new 8.1 megapixel camera and the latest in their DC series.

The DC 8122 is one slim camera, coming in at just 1.1 inches thick with the zoom lens retracted. The lens lets you zoom in on object for a magnification of up to 6x, and has the ability to focus on objects as close as 0.8 inches away. It's also got the usual 32MB of built-in memory and VGA video capability. Of the 32MB, 26MB is free for images. External memory is expandable up to 1GB.

The DC 8122 has a 2.8" LTPS-TFT display screen with 230K resolution for viewing your photos and videos. Minox also included a nifty little voice recording function that lets you record up to 30 seconds of sound bites that can be added to every photo.

Minox hasn't released pricing or release date info as of yet.

Pure Digital's 2-megapixel digital cameras are retailing at drugstores all over the US for $19.99. They come with a color preview screen and the ability to delete pictures. Unlike traditional digital cameras, Pure Digital cameras can't be connected to a home PC to transfer images. You have to bring them back to the store for processing, and you get a free picture CD along with your prints.

But now these disposable digital cameras aren't so "one time use" anymore. A team of hackers have found an app that configures security keys in an FTP server that was, surprisingly and fortuitiously, left wide open. After a bit of hacking, the team was able to put a 40-bit key finder up and running for those wishing to unlock the pics and video on their Pure Digital cams.

Pure Digital's response to the incident was swift, though. An official message was quickly sent out to those involved. This resulted in the deletion and removal of files that were in one way or another connected to the incident. Those involved in writing the key finder application maintain that they've done nothing illegal. Pure Digital has yet to respond to the hackers' defense.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) classified defense technology company BAE Systems' uncooled fixed-mount and handheld infrared cameras as qualified anti-terrorism technology under the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act.

Whoo. Before we drown in all those acronyms, let's see what these babies can do. The cameras can detect heat and temperature differences up to a five-mile radius, making them ideal as surveillance cameras especially during the night.

The fixed-mount PMC300TM (640x480 resolution) and the LTC550TM (320x240) would primarily be used for parameter surveillance, and the handheld HH100TM and HHC could be used for law enforcement in the field. I predict that the fixed-mount cameras will be a huge success among nosy neighbors.

The cameras, each worth between $15,000 and $89,000, are available for the DHS but also to the general public - those who can afford it, at least. “The technology is becoming more and more available,” said David Smialek, BAE Imaging Systems business development assistant manager. Smialek anticipates the prices of the cameras to drop in the future.

The IR technology, however, is export-controlled, and will probably be only available to U.S. buyers.

Here are some cool-looking pictures of Russian subway tunnels. I think most of these are for trolleys and the like. These were taken, I believe, in the Lyublinskaya line of the Moscow metro. Maybe you guys from Russia can tell me if this is right or not. Anyway, the Lyublinskaya line was plagued by a barrage of near-constant financial problems, and so a lot of the construction sites for the line were abandoned. The condition of these tunnels have really deteriorated, but in my opinion it adds to the textures and atmosphere of the pictures.

Some of these pics remind me of a Doom Patrol story I read before: the one where Cliff goes into the underground railway system connecting Crazy Jane's personalities together. These derelict tunnels also bring to mind Grant Morrison's first Doom Patrol story arc. In the beginning of the Orqwith story, this one guy gets on the subway and ends up in a station made of bone. It's obvious that these pictures right here are of ordinary, run-of-the-mill, man-made tunnels, but it doesn't take that much of an imagination to turn all those metal girders and stuff into something horrific in your mind.

Brrr, I'm giving me the creeps.

UPDATE: One of our eagle-eyed readers, Melanor9, pointed out that these pictures seem more to be of the underground Military Command Center in Ramenki in southwestern Moscow -- also dubbed as Metro2 -- instead of Lyublinskaya. He says that even though the construction style is a lot like the common metro, "we don't have abandoned civilian lines at the moment (oil prices helps, yknow)." Kudos to Melanor9 for the heads up!