kja

OK, our doglets are due for another heartworm injection. Last year hubby changed them from the tablets thingos to the annual injection, thinking this was a better option for the dogs. As I'm reading and learning I come across this thread which seems to present an alternative view to either not do the heartworm at all or do the tablets instead of the injection. Then there is a 3 year injection in that thread that I'm a little confused about exactly what it is. We try to do the right thing by our pets and are always learning and evolving our methods. So what's best do you think?

Wow, great photos and excellent range of subjects and approaches. Love it! The horses are fantastic...and I love the ones of catching the ball inside the house, sharp! Lots of others very cool, too, but I've just skimmed 8 pages and can't remember them all now LOL I thought I'd get time to play this month, but so far I haven't...oh well, month is still young! For sure skills have been lost, but others have been gained Evolution in motion...I'm sure glad I don't have to go back to film for everything I do!

I've used liveview once ... for an aerial shoot where I had to stick the camera out the window It is a nice tool to have, especially for that fiddly macro stuff sometimes, but I can't say as I even remember how to turn mine on and I shoot macro a lot with few issues so I don't bother to read the manual to figure it out LOL If it comes down between two options and one has liveview, that might nudge you to one or the other, but it wouldn't make my "must have" list. But everyone's style and needs are different so someone else might have this as a "must" ... gee, that's no help is it!

I'm confused...because she HAS been on it, she likely has heartworm? I appreciate the information and the suggestions for sure!

Hehee ... I always think I'm going to sell some off, but then I stumble across something that I need it for. Except for the 24-135, I really really like this lens but never use it...used it when I first got it for a week in San Francisco and then never again. Really should sell this one...

OMG, I'm so glad I didn't list my stuff LOL My list is embarrassingly long after looking at the rest of yours! Here's the list (a little out of date, but not too much) for those who are really curious...

We're not worried about the cash, we just don't want her on meds she doesn't need to be on. I'm not sure how she could have. All she did was look at her gums, listen to her heart. take her temp (normal) and feel her tummy. No other tests were done and the vet did not even give her the c5 shot we went in for. Also, there was a mixup on the vet's end ... we switched to the heartworm shot last year and the vet was meant to update her shot as they should have had a record, but tsomehow the didn't and they were thinking we were still on the tablets and so the heartworm is slightly overdue (scheduled to go in next Wed for that shot as our vet is here only once a week).

Thanks so much, everyone! We didn't start her on the meds yesterday as we wanted more information before jumping off that bridge. The vet suggested no second opinion or the need for options. Even when she said an ultrasound was better and was the way to see all they needed to, she still said the xray would "do" because they didn't have ultrasound equipment. That & the immediate meds before really knowing what was going on were the red flags for me. We are going to see a vet in Perth who is the vet for most of our family there ... if she can't get us in, then we'll try for Murdoch, who have taken great care of our other girls - never cheaply but always fabulously The meds are Fortekor Flavour 20 (benazepril hydrochloride). 1 tab/day (when we drop a few kilos off her she'll be on 1/2 per day). Vet wouldn't give Til her annual injection either, so now she's overdue for that. Won't give it to her until they've done the xray she says. She barely breaths hard after going crazy on our beach walks and recovers very quickly, so I have few concerns on those types of things we can see. It's all the other stuff that's worrying! Again, thanks so much for your opinions and information!

We went to the vet for annual shots/check up today and the vet says that Til has a heart murmur. She said that it's about a 2 and the scale goes to 6. She gave us some meds and said that she expected Til would have to be on them for life (at $150/month!). I got some very general information from the vet but I'm still not clear on what the heart murmur is, if it's a danger, if there are things we can do other than drugs etc. Vet said she needs a heart xray as soon as possible and that's a 4 hour drive for us. Vet mentioned that an ultrasound would be great but that they can't do those so an xray will work. It is possible for hubby to take Til to Perth with him this weekend so we can take her to a vet that can actually do an ultrasound. But do we need to do that or is an xray fine? Basically any info and help you can provide would be great...thanks!

LOL I forgot it even came in a non-IS version :D I haven't priced the lens, just startled me as I wouldn't have expected it to be that high. Hallelujah the Aussie dollar is climbing again if that is indicative of lens prices here!

$1600 for the f4? That seems high to me? I have a stupid number of lenses and it's hard to pick a favourite as it depends a lot on what I'm shooting. One of my favourites that not many people seem to think about is my Sigma 30mm 1.4 - SWEET and excellently priced. I love this lens.

I don't know about the price as you'll need to shop around a little just to see what other places are offering it for. Both of those lenses are just fine, they're actually better than should be expected out of a kit lens for the most part. They will be a good start for you and should help you figure out what you really like to do and then you can move forward with more purchases later if you find that one or the other (or both) aren't doing what you need them to do. Or if you are sure you know what you want from a lens, look for the body separately and buy the lenses individually, too. the Canon 450D is one sweet little camera that does an excellent job for new users and experienced users alike. It's a great body.

You can get some from the chemist usually. Sometimes they have it as a powder type thing and it's cheaper. Just get some old or cheapo nylons and tie yourself up some "baggies" of it. Camera stores may also carry them. One name for them is Moisture Munchers. You can also get them online. Here's a quick link -> Moisture Muncher & crazily overpriced. These guys are overseas but Ryan and the crew rock and they are small enough to be thrown in an envelope so even with shipping you might be better off -> Reef Photo Or head to a shoe store and see if they have any - it's the same stuff in those little packs you get in shoe boxes and handbags Often a shoe store will have a big pile of the dumb things hanging around and are happy to be rid of them. I don't know about the fungus as I don't use anything in my camera bags or in my storage boxes for lenses and don't have that problem. I simply put my lenses and bodies in plastic containers - like tupperware or willow stuff. Seems to work where I've lived at least!

Hmm, we have a dremmel...

But our Girls detest having their nails trimmed and it's a total trauma for all involved. We usually end up taking them to the vet, who now charges like $30 each dog, to have them clipped but that's even more traumatic it seems. Neither dog has ever been "hurt", we've not nicked the quick or anything so I don't really know why they hate it so much, but they do. So we're looking for more options. Anyone been game enough to drop the $80 on this - thoughts? Experiences?

+1 for what Tess asked - what do you want to do? There's no one size fits all but there are some top contenders for different budgets and needs.

Short and simple is keep the most data you can. Don't edit in camera - the screens aren't good enough and the control isn't nearly as good as your imaging software. Always crop in post production not in camera. If you are working in RAW, then it doesn't matter much which order you do contrast, brightness, exposure, etc. Experiment a bit and you'll find which order works best for what you shoot. For my doggie stuff my order is usually, more or less, like this: - exposure/brightness - white balance - contrast - blacks - exposure/brightness (I do it in small increments to compliment the blacks & white balance Image size is done next to last with sharpening done as the last step, usually.

f5 on the 100mm macro is really shallow! Underwater I never drop below f8 and usually those just drive me nuts so I don't do that very often. Even at f11 and f13 you are still getting a pretty darn shallow DOF but you're getting more flexibility of getting a really crispy shot on the point you want crisp. On land it would be rare for me to open this lens up that much unless I was really going for total isolation, had a static subject and external light source.

Wow, beautiful shots, All! I need to use this lens more than I do ... but then again, I feel that way about a number of my lenses LOL What are your settings? If you are shooting with a wide aperture, this lens has a really shallow DOF and it can be tough to get the focus sweet right where you want it. Anything wider than f8 can be a challenge. Also check your shutter speed to make sure you are fast enough...I found that when I first started using the 100 I had to up my shutter as I was getting a little shake. As I got used to the lens and honed my technique, I was able to drop my shutter and can now hand hold at quite low speeds. It just takes practice. It's not a true macro lens, but the "macro" feature will do one of two things (and sometimes both) -> in macro mode it will allow you to focus with less distance between the lens and the subject than in non-macro mode and/or it will give you some magnification. For instance, the Sigma 17-70's magnification is 1:2.3 (the 100mm is 1:1). These kind of lenses can be great compromises, but if you want to do 1:1 and you want super sharpness, then a dedicated prime macro is the way to go. FWIW this isn't precisely true. You need to be willing to buy another part from Canon (a different baffle) and do a little DIY, but the EF-S lenses will migrate to other bodies with the hack. I've heard that the 60 on a non 1.6 crop body is the just the bees knees, but I haven't bothered to hack any of mine yet.

Looking good! Did you get the 100? The 100mm macro and 60mm macro are excellent lenses and as you've discovered already, not just for macro! The 100mm as a portrait lens is very nice (and the 60mm is no slouch etiher).

I'd love to know the supplier of the acrylic mounts, please

Basically it's a print between two pieces of acrylic. They come up SWEET, especially in metallic. BrilliantPrints.com.au does them (not sure about metallic prints but I know they do canvas which is also totally cool) as do Genius Print Australia - check them out. I'm a little confused but I'll give this a whirl...in Lightroom all of your edits are saved automatically in what's called a sidecar file. The original image stays intact so you never have to worry about that. If you want to Export a different file type or size, simply go to the Export choice in the File menu and select your settings. In Export you set the location the new file is to be saved at, the file type (jpeg, tiff, dng etc), the file size if you're going jpeg (it's a slider bar with percentage or you can type it in. I use 60-70% when I save stuff for the web) and other bits. If you want a large file - why do you want to put large files on photobucket? - then simply set that up in the choices. When you upload to photobucket, you need to remember to choose the larger file size or photobucket will do what you've told it to do before on that little drop down menu it has. Most files I put on the web are between 60-150kbs...I can't see a need to put anything larger up. Here are my for web settings: set the long side to 650 pixels set jpeg to 66% Lightroom deals with it. To apply settings to other images by synching things, select the image that has the settings you want to use - you must be in the Develop Module. Hold the cntrl key down and select the other images you want to apply that setting to (if you want to choose images right after or before your base image, then hold the shift key and click the last image in the set). Now click Synch - which at the bottom of the right hand side panel where you choose your edits. A dialogue box pops up where you can choose which settings from all of the many choices to apply. You can hit Select All to choose everything or Select None to deselect everything and then just click the ones you want. I usually make sure my Crop and Local Adjustments are unclicked as those are usually unique to every image. This is a great tool for when you want to add a preset BUT don't want the preset to change the exposure for example. Simply hit synch, then uncheck Exposure and everything else will change but leave your exposure alone. For example - if you've got a shot of your dog under the shade of your patio and one shot in full sun ... if you have a preset that let's say increases your exposure a little, the full sun image will be blown out. So uncheck the Exposure box and viola - you now have two very diverse shots (lighting wise) that look like they were meant to be a set. Easy. HTH

clicking - LOVE that shot!! It sounds like there are some who would like a May challenge, so why not have it be BW? Those who are burning out or who have plates that are too full don't have to play, but those who want to can. No one has to post every day - or at all - if they don't want to. I know I haven't been able to do more than view stuff for April's challenge, but I would have really missed seeing what others were doing if it wasn't there. I adore LR and find the vast majority of things I want to do way easier and faster than in PS. Mostly it's a matter of just playing with the presets that come with it and playing with the myriad of sliders. There are tons of great tutorials out there to help you along or to give you ideas, too. Sepia and all sorts are dead easy - there are already presets that will let you get sepia and other tones with a single click...and if you want to tweak those, just move the sliders around. Easy peasy. Create something you really like and might want to apply later? Click the + sign under presets and it will save it for you with whatever title you want to give it. Then go to another image and click your new preset. Viola. Not quite right? Tweak the sliders. Everything is tweakable and you don't have to backtrack if you don't want to. Got something you think you like but aren't sure and want to try something else? Click the + under snapshots and name it - it saves every step then you can go back to any of those steps and try something different. You can save the new version with another snapshot and flick back and forth between the two to see what you like. My biggest lightroom problem? I can get sucked in to playing with options and very subtle variations coz it's so easy! LOL

You're going to need to know about space before you print so you know the sizes. If there are no other guidelines, I'd just do whatever worked the best for the images - canvas, standard print, metallic print. Depending on the image I would most likely mount mine on a backing board (what do they call that?? I think there are options like foamcore and lightweight but strong wood-type substances) with no frame...but I'm a minimalist most of the time If a frame or matt will help the image, then do that...if it's just there because you think you should have one, forget it for that image. Nothing wrong with a mix of printing & framing options in one display as long as everything flows in a visually appealing way. If you want to rock things, check out having some metallic prints done in acrylic ... they are awesome!

That's so weird...I have lots of friends who shoot Nikons (the whole range) with the Sigma 17-70, 10-20 and the Tokina 10-17 and Tokina 11-16 with no problems at all, so at least those four work Don't know about the others...be interesting to try to find more first hand accounts for those who are thinking about Nik and 3rd party lenses. I wonder what the problems are and if they are "important" or not ... sigh, I don't need to wander off on this tangent, I'm swamped with my own stuff AND I don't even shoot Nikon so it doesn't effect me LOL Bad me!