Linda K

what are the settings - to me the background is still a bit too distracting, so I would either open up wider if you could, in order to render it even more OOF, or move the subjects slightly so the cars and pole weren't in the way. Given though that this was obviously a spot moment shot, wider would be the way I would go

yep, I always have the heat cranked up high (pre warn people that we will be dripping with sweat by the time we are finished), just so bub is comfy being naked (and even then, still have a dog bed warmer under the blankets too!!!! - but this also helps stop getting the extermities purple or bluish, and keeping an even skin tone across the bub. Another tip for anyone doing newborns - avoid white at all costs - it is a different grey value than the skin, and you will blow out the blanket trying to expose for the skin. Using stuff around that is similar grey values to the skin will help enormously.

bit too late for this time around, but 1 thing I always try to avoid is newborns wearing clothes as they never look right on them. I prefer either near naked, or wrapped in baby wraps, as when I do them, I am trying to also get the baby wrinkles and the whole tinyness aspect, which you just don;t get when they are wearing outfits. I also do newborns at 12 days or under, as anything less you run into baby acne, and also a lot more unsettled. I then generally suggest waiting till hey are about 4 months old, as at least then they can hold there head up and interact a bit more.

actually I remember reading an article in a PPA magazine about 4 years ago that said the new money to be made in photogrpahy, given everyone and their dog was going to buy digital SLR's and think that made them as good as a pro, would be teaching workshops to people, and making money out of other wannabe photographers. Have seen this trend just keep growing and growing over the last last 4 years, with people making actions and selling them, people making templates and selling them, and people running workshops and selling them. The only thing I would suggest when planning one is to check the credentials of those running it - how long have they been in business, what is their experience, and what are you getting out f it that you couldn't find by doing some searching online yourself. For a 2 day workshop, that price would be consistent with what I have paid a top level pro from overseas, but I would always first investigate what I wanted to get out of it, how it was going to improve what I was doing, and whether it filled any needs I had that I could not just fill in gaps by googling

Raiineth - go and check out Pethaven facebook page - you will find so much purebred hatred over there it is frightening, and anyone even poking up their head asking about buying from a breeder is hearily condened (and yet when this "rescue" group gets their hands on any purebreds through rescue, wow, do they charge for them!!!! Happy to love my purebreds, and agree with the sentiment that I like knowing the reassurance of what I am getting, not the great unknown.

cried as well

another even shocked that such young pups were at any shop, would they have even had vaccinations at that age? (let alone the proper socialisation), not that I think any puppys should be in pet shops (or kittens either for that matter Poor puppys, hope they are OK

you forgot the awful selective colouring, where random things in the image were coloured which were nothing to do with the subject (and so take the attention away), or the hideous eyes coloured, but the rest is B & W

just remember - it is not all the camera too - one of the biggest bugbears is people thinking that the photo is all the camera, just like saying t a painter that your brush paints a nice picture. There is a lot more to it than that, like learning to read light, learning composition, learning what settings to use to capture what you want - juts using the same model doesn't guarantee you can capture art like what some photographers are capable of. As to whether you should get the camera fixed, if it is more than 12 months old, sorry, they are like mobile phones, technology changing that fast that old models become obsolete very fast, and you would be unlikely to get much more than the money it would cost you to fix if that - why would someone pay so much for that when they could get something brnad new? Hurts I know, but that is life now - when you buy a camera, you are never going to get money back for it down the track, unlike the old film bodies, where there was not that much change going on. As to what to get now, agree with everything that KJA said - if you just want something to pick up and go, you are unlikely to want an SLR that is going to need lenses being carried and changed, a point and shoot may be more your go

I think I would be inclined to only consider it if they kept foster failing for their own good, but just 1 - nup

great name choice. Great photos too. as for the names themselves, well guess they got along as well as Steve & Bill (Job & Gates - shame what happened to Nikola both by Edison & the entire Edison family afterwards, even to the extent of threatening the Smithsonian even after US courts recognised Tesla's patents over Edisons)

good that they did this, but would add that I have bought 3 cameras, and multiple lens from BH and DWI and never had a problem with any of them, so it is just sheer bad luck that this happened to you

can't help with a dog, but did import 2 persian cats last year who travelled together in the same crate (pp40) airfare was $800, flew on qantas, qantas fee an Melb airport was $70, but first they had to go through customs, and since the value of them and their airfare was over $1000, had to pay customs duty on them (and had to use a freight forwarder to do the paperwork for customs), as you are not able to do this yourself - that was another $500. So total to bring them in was nearly $1400.

completely agree - there are some things you should fix afterwards, but some things (like composition, cloning etc, that a few seconds fixing first (eg getting gunk out of animals eye, smoothing wrinkles, moving that branch off the ground etc), - that removing afterwards is a pain, but others, like correcting tones etc as shown above, that do really enhance the image. You are right Huga that some do take post processing too far, and usually as a cover for a badly exposed image, and then try to pass it off as style, but generally that is people who have first discovered processing software, and super saturate everything, or have discovered a new technique (like cross processing etc), and apply it to everything, whether it suits the image or not. Thankfully most that go through that stage soon stop doing it, and perfect their own style. I guess what I really trying to say in my usual rambling way is there are some things I prefer to be doing in photoshop, and some that I certainly don;'t that a bit more care taken before the button was pushed, would have saved, and life is too short to waste on stuff like that!!!

bump - if you couldn't go to the forum, speak now!!!!

given what was said at DPI yesterday, certainly not on the agenda there - they started with the given of commercial breeding of cats and dogs will be allowed to continue -0 the only points really being discussed was whether people who do not get the DAB exemption now (ie breeders who belong to a registered body, namely DOGS VIC or any of the 3 cat bodies), and who have 3 or more fertile females, but less than 10, need to comply with the exact same requirements, or whether they are able to house raise their lesser no. All people registered or not, who have 10 or more must comply with the large scale arrangements. The only people really upset about that feeling from the meeting was the rather vocal puppy farmer up the back, and the anti puppy farmers who felt everyone should not even be doing it, (and funnily enough, applauded every comment from the puppy farmer - bet they had no idea he was one, or they would have been horrified they were supporting him). Will read this with interest, as the impression given was Vic had no intention of trying to go with other states, as the hierachy of laws animal breeding comes under would not make that practical. Also stranger was Deb Tranter not saying anything at all for the whole meeting

aperture you want for groups is subject to a lot of things - how large the group is, how close they all are to being on the same focal plane, how much detail you are after, your distance from them etc etc - if you practice with lens, a dummy subject and moving closer or further away, you will get the feel for exactly what you want to achieve so when it comes time, you know exactly what you want to use without needing to guess. There is also the chimping afterwards, where you can zoom in on the back of the camera o make sure the focus and exposure is where you want it. As for what lens - well that depends on whether you are after full body shots or not - obviously a wider lens will give you that ability without you needing to be too far away, but you will also get distortion at the edges, so need to be careful as to where you have people placed so they are not effected by this - a normal lens (50mm), will not be affected by this. It does also depend whether you have a full frame camera or not too, as with a crop sensor, your camera will not be treating a 50mm like a 50mm, it will be cropping within the frame, so you will definitely want something wider then. I personally use my 24-70 for the situation you are describing, as it gives me the versatility to use the focal lengths in that range without changing lenses. I will also be around the 5.6 mark, but again, will alter this either up or down depending on no pf people in group, distance etc

A lot of the professional ones will rely on the actual concert lighting, as they do not want to overpower that with a flash that drowns out or takes over the light effects. Key is first of all a decent telephoto or zoom lens (like 200 or 400), and a camera that can perform at high ISO - like ISO 6400, 12800 etc I think a bigger problem though would be getting the camera in there, as these days if you go in with anything even remotely looking like you are taking a profssional shot, and you will be stopped, and pulling out an SLR with a big white lens is kind of a give away

one thing you will notice with the telephoto- you will get nice compression of the distance between subject and background (kind of like when you see those shots in the cricket or footy, and it looks like the audience behind the player is right there, when it is really a long long distance away.

yep, that was the one I was thinking of - thanks for that, didn't know they had closed

there is a caravan park on the Hume highway at Craigieburn / Campbellfield. I know they took people staying with cats during the Cat Nationals in Melb in 2010, so long as the cats were crated, so could be worth a try.

catching the dogs - sorry, not always an option, esp if they are riled up already from running around after livestock. And Dog-owner - you say you would have repaid - does that mean that you are still yet to do so, or now have no intention of doing so - whether or not you agree with what occured, your dog still inflicted damage on the farmer, and he is entitled to compensation from you - sorry, agree that whilst the farmer could have handled it a little more tactfully, you were the one in the wrong - your dogs got out, which meant they weren't too securely contained, and went off to cause havoc, which you are responsible for. As someone dealing with the aftermath of a $3000 and rising vet bill for a thoroughbred horse who will now never race, and has the most horrific leg wound from a dog attack (we believe from the neighbours dog that we have issues with, but can't prove it was the one who did it), believe me, if I had the chance to have shot the animal who did that to my horse at the time, you had better believe I would have put a shot into it too.

sadly, this is not uncommon, it is a problem we have with our neighbours, who have 2 dogs, one a lab x, the other a staffy cross (looks like also has some boxer in it perhaps?), who are constantly on our property, and they do not give a stuff, they have already had 2 dogs shot by other neighbours when they have attacked their livestock (which they can do, as here in Vic, in our region according to our ranger, if you are on farmland and have livestock, including deer, horses, cattle sheep, goats etc, which all our other neighbours do and wandering dogs are a problem), and dogs are at loose, and bothering the livestock, we are able to shoot them. Does not matter to our neighbours, who are well known to the local cops (which tells me more than I need to know about their character), they just go and get another one anyway - how hard is it to put up a fence FFS. Our farrier who lives up the road on 600 acres, told us about his battle with his neighbour, and repeatedly had a dog coming onto his property and chasing the poddy calves and biting at them - when he chased the dog home, and warned the owner, he was told that this dog never left his side (despite the fact the dog had only just got there and was clearly out of breath from being chased), the next day when the farrier spotted the dog in the paddock with his livestock, he shot the dog, and then left the body on the front fence next to the foxes he had also shot. When the neighbour saw his dog there, he came over and abused the farrier for shooting his dog, the farrier then said it can;t have been yours mate, as you said your dog never left your place, must have been someone elses. Footnote to the story - said neighbour bought a new dog, and fenced his yard so the dog could not wander - even more surprising - the neighbour is very high up in the police force, so you would think would have had some clue about living in a rural area and expecting a pet dog to stay at your place without making any effort at confining them is just not going to work, and you do need to be a bit more responsible. Sadly for that dog, his owner had not been responsible enough to care. As for our neighbours, and their constantly wandering dogs, whom our council does not care about taking action or following up on reports of, the neighbours don't give a stuff about confining, and I am sick of dealing with them chasing our horses and my sons (and sadly we don't have a gun), I am totally sick of their dogs, but out of options - just hope they annoy one of the other farmers enough who does have a gun.

truly wonder how much of this was because the owner could not face being without the dog, and whether all of this treatment was really something the dog should have been put through. $40000 would be way beyond a limit I could ever justify for any of my furry family too.

totally agree - shot in very poor taste, size of cat it is not a very feral looking feral, as they are so much bigger, and if he really wanted to do something about the feral cat situation, how about not letting pet shops sell undesexed kittens, or puppies?