kja

You're shooting at ISO1250 and shutter 1/100 You actually slowed down for the second shot (to 1/90)! Freezing action needs a fast shutter. Raise your shutter so it's faster to freeze action (1/800, 1/500 etc) Reduce your ISO - you really only need to raise this when you are shooting in lower light conditions and need the extra ISO to keep your shutter and/or aperture where you want it. In these conditions you have heaps of wriggle room and should be able to drop that ISO way way down. If you make your aperture smaller - it's at f5 now - you will gain a bit of depth of field so when the kittie and doggies aren't on the same focal plane you still have a shot of getting both sets of eyes in focus. Experiment with f8, f14 etc - just fiddle to see what effect you like the best. One word of caution, as you stop down, your background becomes more in focus, too...

And now for something completely different. Steve Madden goes to the beach - retro style Canon 40D, Sigma 30mm 1.4, f1.8, 1/8000, ISO 200 with HTP on And out bush track Canon 40D, Canon 10-22 @ 12mm, f3.5, 1/1600, ISO 200 with HTP on So blue Canon 40D, Canon 10-22 @ 12mm, f3.5, 1/1600, ISO 200 with HTP on All edits in Lightroom 2

Oh god, no pressure LOL I'm not sure I'll come up with anything near the quality that has already been posted!

Wow, you guys are coming up with some great stuff. I am hoping to find 30 minutes to do this challenge today or tomorrow but things are a little crazier than normal over the past few days LOL

Shoemonster - loving the second one! Great idea - very creative I like C&C but maybe it needs its own thread or this one will get too boggy and hard to find the info later?

I love the last one! Stop down and or increase your shutter speed. Sometimes you'll still have a ray of sunlight that just won't not be blown - there's often just too much range in a scene in harsh sunlight and you do the best you can. You can also experiment with using fill flash - so exposure for the brightest part of the photo and fill in the shadow areas with a little pop of light. As an aside, can we please all use the same terms/abbreviations? It took me ages to figure out what ppl were talking about LOL f-stop is your aperture and is always a little f ... f4.5, f7.1, f14, f22 etc shutter speed is always a fraction and it doesn't get any letter ... 1/250, 1/1000, 1/20 ISO would be good to add if you know it lenses should be listed ... Canon 60mm 2.8 macro, Sigma 30 1.4, Canon 50-255 @ 78mm (so the zoom lens gets listed and then the mm of the focal length used) etc I know I'm a little slow sometimes, but if we all do it the same way it's better!

OK, OK...this weekend I should be able to figure something out and maybe find a friggin' tennis ball that isn't torn to pieces. Shoes are no problem - I am a shoe addict - but I have to figure something out for that. BTW a friend got his Canon box today but isn't giving any secrets away as yet!

You guys are rocking already! Love 'em!

I use AF almost exclusively. If you are noticing this when you get closer to your subject, my guess is, yes, you are too close for the minimum focus distance of the lens. Back off a hair or two and see what happens. You may also need more light or contrast on the area you are trying to focus on.

LOL no, I hadn't ever heard of that web site before :D Focus shooting a fast prime wide open is always tricky ... you really do need to take more than one frame!

They're looking great!! How are you liking the lens?

I don't know that flash, it's probably a manual one that you will need to adjust yourself. Hit Google and see if your camera model will run that flash in ettl mode - if it won't, your camera will not talk to the flash so you'll have to choose the settings.

Woohoo! The first entry I don't think we have to have doglets in the shots...I sure hope not anyway, it's tough enough as is! I dunno, Vickie will need to answer this but was is "edited"? That's a whole ball of wax right there! If it's like the Canon one, absolutely everything goes it looked like to me! Except for cloning in the actual items, maybe, I think their rules said you had to actually shoot the physical item.

No problem, I'd be happy to get rid of some of these things actually LOL

I think Vickie said you can enter all week? So there's time! BTW if it's a standard usb cable with the little end and the big end, I have spares and would be happy to send you one - PM me if you're interested.

Item 2 - a fork

Yup, glass = lenses. Always buy the best glass you can afford (and this isn't *always* main brand glass, either), imho ... it can make far more difference to your images than the actual body. The D90 is looking like a little gem...but the D80 isn't a slouch either. I have several buds who have the D200 and have decided not to upgrade just yet, they're waiting for the next round from Nik, so I don't think you can go wrong with it either. Basically, all the major players have put out bodies that will far exceed most people's ability to get the maximum out of them. When you run into something your body CAN'T do or that you feel is really limiting you, THEN is the time to upgrade (unless you have limitless cash laying around, of course!)

Wohoo! Get out there and let's see some photos!

The Canon speedlites let you do tricksy things like fire other speedlites without extra remote bits and use ettl etc. There are lots of people using other brands and remote triggers - Sunpaks are popular and lots cheaper. As with everything photo it seems, the costs go up for brand names and more functions/features...which may or may not get used LOL

Yes there is a huge difference, especially in the way they handle high ISO work. If you are just starting out or are a medium user, I'd save the money and buy the D80 or D90 and get the best glass you can ... spend more on glass is usually a wise choice. The D300 is a great camera. The new D3 is Nikon's best hands down for handling high ISO work but it's pretty pricey. the D90 is rumored to be much better than the D80 in this area so if you think low light, high ISO shooting is really a priority for you then you might want to wait. Of course, if you have the cash, the D3 is a sweet option. The D200 remains an excellent camera so if you can find a good deal this would also be an awesome way to jump in. Note also that the D300/200 and D3 are bigger and bulkier than the D80/90...for me, that's actually a consideration when I buy a new rig - especially since I know I'm going to whap huge lenses on it and I do like to handhold. A bigger, bulkier body just doesn't work as well for me day in and day out so I'm willing to compromise on any features one might have. Happily, I didn't have to compromise too much with my Canon 40D choice! www.dpreview.com is an awesome resource to compare cameras side by side and to read reviews (pretty indepth reviews usually).

Looking great!! What a cutie puppy, too Glad you're already having fun!

I use bounce flash inside too sometimes. I have the Canon 580, stick it on the camera and point it up or at a wall etc - not at the subject. It's fun to practice. I've got all the triggers and remotes and stands etc, but that's far too much effort for shooting the doggies in the evenings LOL You can also shoot at 1.8 when that lens arrives and bump your ISO up up up and your shutter down. Remember you'll have very very narrow DOF so take more than one frame each time! You'll have to experiment as things will vary from room to room.

Wow, lots of new toys - congrats everyone!! You're going to love playing Luke, you'll need to sell a lot of kids at $100 a pop to recoup from that lens LOL

Looking good! Gorgeous dog btw!

Ripley, Dumb question I know but, when you say you lose 2 steps would that make a 2.8 a 4.8 or a 2.8 a 3.0, or am I barking up completely the wrong tree? A 2.8 becomes a 5.6 ...it's a huge loss of light. Some lenses also don't play so nicely with teleconverters so need to watch, that, too.