kja

Canon's 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is a cracker. I adore the wide end (15mm) and 85mm is a very nice reach. It does have variable aperture but have a look through the linked thread and you'll see it still does a fine job across the range. POTN thread of real world examples. Looks to me like an excellent lens when you just want to take one and when you're pretty sure you won't need significant reach. I was putting off some work and started wandering the threads & hadn't come across this one before so thought I'd share it here

awww, look at his little tongue in the last one. Cutie bundles of fluffyness!

Could they be cuter?? Nice conversion - perfect shot for black & white

Thanks, Vickie

Well, I had a good time. Spent a great deal of time chatting instead of shooting And horrific light 80% of the time LOL super dark to super bright. Super fun. All participants had a fabulous time as did the spectators. Learned a lot on a variety of subjects. Well worth taking a little time and trying something new. Link to more

I don't think we get layers in lightroom? Here is a great link to what we do get: Lightroom Queen I just loaded it today and it was a friggin SNAP to import my old catalogs and start rockin' the images. And I suck at stuff like this. The only thing that I think I'll have to really get used to is the new default for noise reduction - I'd never paid any attention to it in the other versions and evidently it did apply a little bit on import. I'm hoping it wasn't enough to notice, but it's easy enough to customize so I'm not worried about it. So much new stuff - I might actually read up and try to learn some new things!!

It's finally out of Beta and is ready to roll. On sale now at www.adobe.com - both the upgrade and the full version. Wheeeee! PS - don't forget your beta versions will expire at the end of this month, I think. new users can also download the full new version for a FREE 30 day trial, as always.

This is totally what I would do :D

I think it's kind of a shame that with such a nice community here that more people aren't willing to share before/after images AND the way they got there. Now, I realise some of you may read this and think a) Pot. Kettle. Since I haven't added any either. I'd be happy to but most of the things I do are not done in Photoshop, but in Lightroom which is often a different kettle of fish. My life is also crazy lately and I haven't had a lot of energy to do much of anything that isn't existing. I'll try to pop something up in the next few days should there be any interest. b) It's alright for you to say that because you don't have a super-duper secret processing style that you don't want people to rip off. This is true, however, it takes more than a processing style to make a great photo and if people are worried about that processing being copied because they think they'll be put out of business if someone does copy it step by step, then I respectfully say that I think the original photographer has bigger issues. I have a couple of friends who have a definitive style for certain types of shots - they have been very open about showing exactly how they got there. And all the "copiers" I've seen don't come close, even with step by step on similar shots. Mostly the copiers see that so don't keep banging their heads against walls, but take what they've learned to experiment more and to evolve their own way of doing things. I doubt highly that many people here on DOL are going to steal another DOLers process and apply it to everything they do...and if they do, so what? I see threads like this as opportunities to share, explore, learn, evolve and play.

It looks like there are reviews from six years ago. For $200 I wouldn't buy six year old technology here's a link and you can decide if it's worth it...

I personally find randomly clicking menus and sliding sliders and pushing buttons in my software and on my camera is the best way to learn stuff :rolleyes: Glad you're having a great time with the new toys!

I definitely intend to let the person in charge know that I'd be happy to supply a couple of shots for their newsletter/mailout thingo if they'd like. Not that interested in supplying them to all and sundry but I'm always supportive of our local groups!

Cool, thanks, All! Not sure I'm going to have time to get out there yet, but I'm hoping to!

The local horse & pony club has a Gymkhana (??) this weekend and if I have some time I thought I might pop out there and shoot some frames. There's going to be barrel racing & jumping and I have no idea what else. The arena area isn't that huge, but it's a good size. Anyone been to one of these? What kind of things do they do? I only want to carry a little bit of gear so am wondering if I should bring the big 100-400? It feels like that would be too much lens for this but having not done it before I don't know. I'm only shooting for kicks & giggles as one of my goals this June is to do things I haven't done before in my town (I've been here for ten years!)

DOF is a function of distance as well as aperture. The farther you are, the greater the DOF. It's also the lens - wider angle lenses will give you apparently greater DOF at a similar distance than say a nice long lens. Oh, and quick rule of thumb is 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind your main subject.

Here's how Scott Kelby recommends resizing for poster sized prints if you have Photoshop (if you don't, find someone who does ): open in photoshop Image Size from the menu type in the dimensions you want for your final print adjust your resolution to 360 - yes, 360. Select Bicubic sharpener in the drop down menu at the bottom of the Image size screen - again, yes, forget what adobe recommends You're good to go. I've used this for some big ass prints from small files and it works a treat.

Either either. Both companies produce very good cameras. What you want to do is check out the reviews - like dpreview (not the forum there, the actual reviews) - and have a look see at the high ISO performance. A properly exposed image shot on a Canon 450 ISO 800, 1000, and even 1600 will work. The key is properly exposing the image. You can miss by a little with the 800, but you can't miss by much on 1600. The newer models give you a little more room to play, but you'll pay more for them. Another alternative is to find a second hand Canon 40D. I don't think twice about shooting at 1600 with my 40Ds. I think they are going for like $600-$700 ish at the moment. Nikon has equivalents but you are going to want to stay in the newer generations of models as it's only been the past couple of years that their high ISO performance has come into its own - especially on consumer models - and earlier models weren't in the same league as the Canon (go back to whatever the direction competition to the 30D was and buy newer than that...some even think the direct comp to the 40D wasn't in the same ballpark but after that the Niks really really got good). OH, and remember, you need to be realistic with your expectations, too. You may not be able to shoot available light of puppies playing indoors with anything - I know I usually throw an off cam flash up in the living room if I want to shoot mine coz our living room lighting is terrible!

There is a very good, very open thread over on POTN on RAW conversions before and after. This thread is awesome as it shows the power of editing without gettin' jiggy in photoshop - all edits are done without photoshop manipulations or the like. They only use a RAW converter program such as Lightroom or Aperture or ACR or DPP (that comes with your Canon dslr!). In the thread each poster gives screen shots of the settings used and will offer a step by step a lot of the time, too. It's very friendly and helpful and newbies are encouraged. I think somewhere I found a help thread like that for Photoshop where people weren't afraid to share their techniques, but as I'm not a huge PS user I can't remember and it looks like I don't have it linked. Totally Rad has a recipe link that will also show you before and afters as well as the steps people took to get there. Yes, these are almost exclusively steps used with the Totally Rad Actions, but I think they can still be interesting even if you don't have them - you can reverse engineer, get ideas and explore more of those drop down menus and sliders

And with that, if anyone is even considering this lens, please PM me here with an offer. After deciding to sell it, I simply want it out of the office. I don't want to put it back in its storage compartment. Poor thing is so lonely and dejected since it doesn't get used. If you have a number in mind, just let me know - you're likely to get a great lens at an excellent price!

Hmm, if your images look right on your calibrated monitor, they should print correctly UNLESS the printer/lab you are using is too helpful - many program a "correction" sequence in before they print and that might be screwing things up. Give DigitalWorks a go - it's not that expensive for a few test prints and it should you a good base line. Give them a ring and talk to them, too.

Try shutter priority in this instance. You set a nice fast shutter to capture the motion and the camera sorts out the aperture for the conditions. You may need to choose spot meter for beach conditions otherwise the camera may read the entire BRIGHT scene and not expose the dog properly. So put your spot on the dog and fire away. If you have lower light conditions, bump up your ISO a bit so your camera has something to work with. You may also find AI servo is worthwhile as it helps track movement. And, yes, the more you shoot, the better you should get. Once you are comfortable changing settings in full manual, Av or Tv will take no time at all and you won't have to double check it every time. I use full manual in highly changing, fast paced conditions and work on the fly, because I'm used to it, I don't miss shots or fumble around with settings, it's just a fluid part of the process. It takes a lot of frames and mucking around to know you're comfortable but everyone has to start somewhere But most importantly, have FUN!

Manual here almost all the time. I may use Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority once in a blue moon or less, but they do have their uses and are worth knowing how to control. on my happy snappy Canon SD1200 IS there is no manual mode so when I use that I just use the auto setting ;)

Sharpen should be your last step and your method and settings will likely vary depending on your final output. I suck at remembering to sharpen before I put stuff on the web ;) When I do remember, I use a variety of different methods, depending on my brain function on a day LOL So, basically, I am no help at all. But do remember that some sites, like flickr, also sharpen (or decrease quality or other mods) your images when you upload so you might have to tweak for different applications.

Wow, you're right - I totally apologise guys, I had bad info and the wrong price on the Canon. New price is updated. Note that it does come with the genuine canon hood and I'll express post it out!

18-200 is SOLD I'm surprised it went first, but they're both awesome lenses. Thanks to all who expressed interest ... now, who's for the Canon?!