kja

Are you putting the correct size up on Photobucket in the first place or loading the big file and then hoping it resizes properly for you? I upload the size I want to display because I don't have any reason to have huge images/files there and then I know they will show properly wherever I pop them.

Dunno, I've had no problems - they are coming out the size they should? Maybe there's a setting screwy somewhere? Log out of both and log back in?

hehe - hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine :)

but instead I got distracted a bit and was fooling around with a photo of Harry-Man. Which appeals to you more - left or right?

It is super cute! I think it's totally misleading that they have those uw shots on their site without a clear statement that you have to have the housing - at least they need a clear LINK to the housing. I'd never assume a camera could do water stuff unless it specifically said it could, but having those shots with no other info is very confusing. Oh and how I wish I didn't have to shoot in bright, scorching, harsh sunlight 99% of the time - I'm so jealous!!!

Nice selfies again this week! Monet - love the action shot Week 31 - yeeeha!! It was stupidly rough when we tried to go out squiding the other day & my friend though standing up would be a better option :)

Neat sky! No, making actions in PS isn't nearly as easy as presets in LR. They can turn out to not be as adjustable, too. I don't use actions very often - just happen to have this one from a friend that I have to tweak...it doesn't work for every photo but it does have an adjustment layer in it so can be tweaked a bit when needed (pretty much every damn photo). I think there was free web sharpen one somewhere - maybe Totally Rad or hmm, what's that woman that lives on the ranch and blogs? Can't remember but I'll bet if you google you'll find a few.

Adjustment layers I think they are called

Nope sorry never had that problem Go thru acr in photoshop and it has similar sliders etc or open the file in ps and use the little icon mext to the layers one to adjust colors, exposure, brightness etc on different layers & tweak away. Not on computer so can't remember what the icon is oops!

When I looked it up it came to about $350 shipped from Australia - which was about $40 more than from BH if you go 1:1 with the dollar. I only grab it sometimes for indoors coz it's with my walking stuff so I grab my baby Canon while I'm in the house. But it does OK :) As with all compacts, it suffers from noise at higher ISOs so you'll want to watch that and/or be happy with a little bit of mushy pixel action. I use it a lot outdoors on the beach with the dogs. I have found it takes a little learning to be able to get better action photos - the straight auto setting doesn't work too well for me so I go to sports or beach mode and burst. Seems to work.

Yes, there is a separate sharpening slider in LR. I personally use an action I have made in photoshop for sharpening quite often as it just works for my needs and I don't have to think about it. I haven't played with the LR4 sharpening too much because in the early versions it was crap, but I have heard good things about it in the new versions - I'm just too lazy to learn something new .

Mostly it's because scene is very comfortable for the eye to view - on any camera. It will produce a tighter scene on a crop than on a full frame, but it is still usually quite pleasing. Shooting it gives you enough room to not be up in anyone's face. It's very affordable - even the 1.4 isn't too badly priced - for such a wide open lens. When you look at longer focal lengths when you get wide open glass (2, 1.8, 1.4, 1.2 etc) you're looking at way more money and way more weight. Most people get into a mode where they love to shoot wide open or close to it so the backgrounds are nice and creamy. The 50mm is the initial go to lens for all of the above. The 30mm is a fantastic lens that offers more flexibility than the 50mm because it is just a bit wider and it's extremely well priced, to boot. It can be more difficult for people to use - I'm not sure why really. "Too wide" is subjective. Why is it too wide? Don't like the look? Can't get close enough? I use my 30mm and even wider lenses on my pets with no problems. Obviously wide isn't my go to choice if I want to fill the frame with a running dog, though. It's all about choosing the RIGHT focal length for the job. You wouldn't drive a moped during a motocross race - it's just not the right tool, though both tools are great for their respective purposes :) My advice is don't worry about it - you'll just make yourself nuts for absolutely no purpose. Figure out what you are comfortable with and head to those lenses. You have a zoom, that's one of the great things about a zoom pre purchasing dedicated primes. The ONLY time you'd have to think about it is if you were buying a Canon EFS lens mount and owned a full frame - they don't work :)

This often gets people :) After a while you stop thinking about it and just use the lens that works for your needs. "true" focal range is equiv to full frame as it's based on film. So a 50mm is a 50mm on a Full frame; a 30mm is "50mm" on a crop. the 50mm rocks on all cameras :)

yay! have fun :) Where did you buy from here? always good to have a local merchant choice.

When I was talking about the clarity and contrast sliders in Lightroom it was not in reference to sharpness as is dealt with in the sharpening (final) stage of editing - whether you use the high pass or any one of a million other methods. Sorry if there was confusion - they are not the same things.

LOL maybe you are a little, but we all do a bit with new toys! I meant that you're noticing things now that you may not have been noticing before. Try not to get overwhelmed. Start with getting nailed focus in the simplest setting and work from there. Without controlled focus, photos are mostly junk.

I think you're also paying attention to if your images are in focus or not :)

Yup, you got it. One reason you may have problems getting all four pups with all eyes in focus is that they are not in the same plane. Remember focus is 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the sweet spot. To find the sweet spot, use the depth of field calculator and plug in your distance and lens. The closer you are, the shallower the depth of field will be at any aperture. To combat you'll need to stop down so you have a bigger range in the sharp zone - but then you trade off light and smooth blurry backgrounds.

tlc - I recommend that you choose spot/single point focus and use ONE point until you are confident that you can nail focus each time. You can toggle the point to where you want it in the frame, but imho this will help you start to get your camera to work for you and once you master that, then move on to another mode. you can still use AI Servo etc for moving dogs. And LOL on the reaction to POTN, there are some twats on there - stay off Fred Miranda coz it makes POTN look like a warm fuzzy fest :D

@crazy - thanks :) It actually has ended up being one of my favourites of the trip LOL

Great that you are figuring out the focus system I know there are a lot of options! In your preset two things to look for if you are getting soft images are the clarity slider and the contrast slider. Softness isn't a bad thing, but it's helpful to know which sliders are doing which things to an image so you can tweak them to your liking! Don't forget in lightroom you can use a brush to apply most things to only certain areas, too - I know, I know, another thing to play with and learn!!

Don't be sorry!! I think it's an essential, too

awww, I just want to give them a big hug! Lovely :)

Lolli - I don't think so. I think especially right now, all the new cameras are rocking quality, high ISO, AF etc. Unless you know exactly what a particular camera body - ff or crop factor - has to offer, there's not much in thinking too far into the future. Technology is changing fast and what's the best out there right now will be superseded by the time you're ready to change bodies. If you don't have a camera yet, it's worth checking into all of the options in your price range. You may find that a particular body has things, including but not limited to, crop factor, that just feel right to you. huga - I hate to be a harpie, but statements like yours imply that crop cameras do not produce quality and I think that is very misleading. Perhaps you didn't mean to imply that at all. Perhaps you meant that you think crop cameras are simply not suitable for pro level work and, if so, I think that's a bit snobby as well as a disservice to crop cameras and all the pros who do use them with excellent results. You may personally like what a full frame camera brings to you but that doesn't make them perfect for everything or even every shooter, pro or otherwise. I think this would be a great thread to outline exactly what it is about your model of FF makes it so appealing to you. Those who haven't used one could really use some first hand contributions so it's not so "well, this guy on the internet said it's better because blah blah blah insert stuff that doesn't make it easy to understand here". Which is what I think the OP is asking for. Full frame cameras are great and produce lovely images. Are they the right tool for the job you want to get done? Maybe :) If you start with a crop will you eventually "upgrade" to a full frame? Maybe :) this is a very short, easy little blog post that might help a bit.

Of course. It would be great if you could detail the things you think answer her questions - lots of people don't get to lay hands on both.