Luke W

VR is the Nikon equivalent of IS. On the Canon lenses, you don't need to turn off IS when on a tripod or mopnopod - the lens detects it (well, series II IS does anyway).

Yes - that's my plan too - it's pretty reasonably priced. Are you loving it? Yeah - it's great. Been watching some of the obedience tonight.

Nattylou - do you perceive a potential conflict of interest with Dr. Billinghurst?

I use the free transform tool to fix this stuff. Duplicate the background layer, turn on gridlines, then Edit->Free Transform. Start by rotating the whole image to the right a bit. Then, hold down Alt while dragging the top left and right corner to line up the verticals with the gridlines. You'll lose some of the sides and top of the image. You've also got some barrel distorion. Under CS2 I use the Distort->Spherize to correct. A little better? Try to keep the camera straight (both horzontally and vertically). Don't point the camera up. Under CS4 there's a whole new Lens Correction filter, which make things a bit easier.

I bought the video on demand ticket so I could watch everything I missed.

By the way, how do the wolves open the cans of tomato puree, the tins of sardines and where do they get the money to pay for the electricity to run the freezer which keeps the spinach frozen? And do they let them in Aldis now? Last time I tried to take a hyena in, they wouldn't let me past the checkout. Maybe wolves are exempt. I'll be sure to keep all this in mind when I get myself a wolf. Or a staffy that's not quite farting up to the breed standard ( http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry3488720 )

I was curious about where the list came from and who created it. I found out some extra info so I posted it. ????

I've received a few emails with similar content recently and would like to address this topic: Dear Dog Food Project, I have recently found a "grading system" for dog kibble that is very handy. Could you include a link to it on your site please? I think it would help a lot of people to make even more sense of the hundreds of products out there. I've looked at the list and would like to post a few comments about it. While the original author (whom I do not know) has good intentions and it does look like a good tool at first glance, after closer examination it's not very useful at all. The biggest flaw is the "extra credit" section, since points of both sections are counted equally. You could basically have a so-so food that has minuscule amounts of a few "gimmick" ingredients thrown in to make the product list look more impressive on paper, but its quality is still not all that great and the food will end up with a fairly high ranking that it doesn't truly deserve. On the flip side, many products with simpler formulations will rank lower just because they only contain a small number of ingredients, even if they are of the highest quality. The grading list disregards the fact that not every dog does well on the same type of food and a "one size fits all" approach. Let's go over the flawed points of the list: continued here: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=grading_kibble ... I found the original author:

14) If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn’t allergic to beef), subtract 1 point ?? Is beef a common allergen ? PS - What's the source of this rating system?

Thanks huskyheaven I live in an apartment complex with manicured grounds - lots of different plants and ground covers. Our gardeners don't come back to work until Tuesday so I have been able to check with them whether there's any wandering jew. Just now I did a search and found that it's green and purple. We have some green and purple ground cover nearby that doesn't quite look like the pictures of wandering jew that I found but... Barkly does like walking through it and it could be related. I reckon we might have found the culprit. Anyway - he's of to boarding for a few days in the morning - I'lll check with the gardeners on Tuesday what the plant is. And I'll make sure he stays away from it when he gets back from the kennel. Thanks heaps.

YAY ! ! ! Congratulations - enjoy your new toy. Looking forward to some pics.

Couple of things to clarify.. 1. Who is Charm and who is Kallie ? I assume Charm is the first one... 2. More DOF means that the background is sharper - not more blurrier. In your examples, the first shot has more DOF (depth of field than the second). OK.. Depth of field is tricky... The short answer With wider focal lengths and more subject in the frame, it's much harder to get shorter (narrower, more blurred background) depth of field. You need to get closer to the subject and use a wider aperture. The long answer: Depth of field varies with focal length, aperture and distance to subject. Each one of these factors are intertwined. Focal length and distance to subject can be combined to give 'subject magnification' The greater the subject magnification the smaller the DOF (blurrier background). The greater the aperture the smaller the DOF (blurrier background). So...let's say the horse is 2m long (ok, it's a shetland) and it's represented on the sensor as 20mm in length. That's a mag factor of 1/100. Now lets say you zoom in on the horses head (either by changing the focal length, or the distance to subject by walking toward the horse), in each case, you'll change the magnifcation factor. The horse head (20cm...ok it's a shetland with a tiny head) is represented on the sensor as 20mm in length. That's a mag factor or 1/10. The DOF in this short will be much smaller (blurrier). There are online DOF calculators that can perform the sums given the variables. Here's one. http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html So.... Bottom line... If you want a blurry background (small DOF), zoom in tight and shoot with an aperture as wide as you can and use a lens with a long focal length.

I've got obedience class in the morning...I've get to get up by about 8am...I need to get some sleep too!

The pirate dog was pretty good on it's hind legs!

Increase aperture or ISO. Sorry if I'm telling you stuff you already know!

Check what shutter speeds you were getting. Make sure you are using AI Servo, not AI focus.

Thanks - I've got some of that here too. I have him some Polaromine tonight - he's sleeping now.

Center focus point, AI Servo mode, High speed multishot mode (can't remember what it's called), shutter speed at least 1/500, try to keep the center point over the dog and hold then shutter down. At the start, expect less than 1 in 5 shots to be any good.

Remind me what camera and what lens you are using.

He does the kicking thing when I rub his tummy but he itches on his back, his neck, his tummy... Puggy - what should I give him?

Yeah, I'm not convinced it's anything the groomer has used - she is very good - unless it a particular reaction to the perfume (which we didn't use last time). I'll check with the gardener about wandering jew. It's hard to remember when the itching started, when I started to introduce his new food, when he was groomed, etc, etc. I've stopped feeding Artemis so we'll see how he goes. Re - the fish oil - it the occasional sardines a good idea? Oh - and after his malaseb bath today - his coat seems a bit dry...

It's the same groomer I usually take him to - only this time I forgot to tell her "no perfume".. I hope that's what it is. He's scratching a little bit now (post maleseb bath). :cool:

oops - too late - I bathed him in Maleseb. I did rinse him very, very thoroughly though.

Gunna pop him down to the drive through hydrobath and give him a good washing with Malaseb. Poor bugger.

No rash or sores. In the last 2 weeks he's: Started to chang food and been bathed at the groomer - maybe it's the shampoo or doggy scent they use. :cool: Maybe I'll give him a bath. Re the reflex spot...it's pretty much anywhere on his chest or tummy! OK - I think I've got some Maleseb here.