kja

Thank you all for the kind words :) Here's one from this morning.

Very pretty colours!

You can't see me trevally swimming hawksbill

Just got an email from Totally Rad actions and they're having a sale on their action sets for Mother's Day. Use MOMSDAY at checkout and save $50 on any purchase over $99. Not bad savings, really.

The Sigma 17-70 is one of those rare gems of a lens that only one company has. I love having it in my line-up even if I don't use it all that often on land (but when I want it, nothing comes close!)

Despite my three cats, my backyard is constantly filled with birds (and lizards). These guys are uber annoying with all their squawking so I finally grabbed a camera and went out on the back patio. Of course, they let me take a coupe of shot and then flew away. If only I'd known sooner that would make them shut up...

oh, and thanks for liking looking at my blog!! :)

oh man, I don't know where any photos would be off the top of my head! And I'd rarely have any to compare between as I tend to simply choose the lens that I feel will give me the results I want for any given thing. But I would say for sure when you are shooting inside with limited light - there is a tremendous difference between 2.8 and 1.4. And separating your sharp subject from a cluttered background - the 1.4 really helps here, too, even if you're stopped down a bit...again, 2.0 is way different than 2.8. And I love the feel a photo has when you're shooting and only have a prime - no zoom options. There's something about it that makes you get in the groove of the moment sometimes. You can do that with a zoom, of course, and I'd never give my zooms up, but with a prime your whole focus is more easily on the whole frame - especially if you're just starting to use primes (or using them again after a long time with zooms. I still find this to be true myself.) I don't know if that makes any sense but I know what I mean :) The 30 is also so tiny - perfect for just having around or taking with you and being unobtrusive. This can be a big thing for other people - they see you shooting but something about the low profile helps them forget about you faster. Don't know if you've looked at the Siggie 30 archive but it's probably got some great stuff in it :)

I'd get the 30 1.4 (in fact, I did) - it's a great lens for what you want to use it for and is a lovely complement to the zoom lens, imho.

ooo yeah, the big boys! Excellent bang for buck. I got to use them while in Africa and they're good stuff. I even considered buying one to take instead of my Canon 100-400 L just for the extra reach.

They are fabulous :) I have the 30 1.4 and it's wonderful. I have the Sigma 17-70 macro and it's fabulous, too. I had the 50-150 2.8 and it rocked. I have friends who have a whole range of Sigmas and to a one they are great lenses. Excellent value for money, too.

@red - thanks :) @elise - Canon 40D + Canon 100-400 L + Kenko 1.4 TC. imho one of the tricks to moon shots is getting your aperture pretty small, not shooting wide open. And, of course, shooting on a night/morning where you can already see lots of detail :)

FWIW I've never seen an IPS monitor that doesn't say it's IPS - if it doesn't say it, it's probably not one ;)

I cannot resist these guys when they are being so dang adorable! or when they are, ahem, on the dog toys

The moon was much clearer and more impressive this morning that it was either rising or setting yesterday. No funky colours tho.

Yay! New toys are fun - glad you're loving yours

It will say IPS on it no doubt. It's meant to be better for photo viewing -> what is IPS

What does your calibrating software say - that's what I use? I didn't mess with any settings when I plugged mine in - I just hooked up Spyder and followed the directions it gave me. I'm pretty sure I output as srgb for all my labs fwiw.

Nice shot! :) We watched it rise over the Gulf as we were walking the dogs. It was pretty but have to say nothing spectacular. This morning I watched it set on the other side of the Cape and again, it was just an average full moon. The one a couple of months back was way more impressive LOL

Thanks :) And what lenses do we have to choose from? And do you have a baby camera going, too?

What's the GC? And what are our choices?

18/52 - awesome dive with a very good friend

I like the running one about four down :)

Thanks, CC! The baitfish are always amazing to hang out in - I spent about 30 minutes with a shimmering ribbon of them the other day. Took some video but haven't tried to upload it yet. still trying to get through all the images from April so should keep having some more updates here - and I'll keep doing it if people are enjoying them :)

Thanks so much, Guys - knew DOLers would be awesome! I think that the 65% who answered "I don't feel I have anything to say" was very telling and will be what we concentrate on - trying to get members to understand that you don't have to be a photo whiz to offer valuable comments and trying to get people to understand that most images are shared for the joy of sharing, not for technical prowess. Just hearing that someone enjoyed a shot is extremely valuable Keep comments coming, too. If people really do want critique on an image (just saying offer ideas to a whole set is sometimes a little too much for people to respond to), perhaps we can start a revolution of adding C&C to thread titles or with the photo in question. From my experience, choosing one image and asking for C&C helps the learning curve far more than anything else - it not only allows your audience to really focus so they can give clear help but it helps you figure out what you do and don't like about your images and become more discriminating.