Ripley

Did you get out today with the camera and/or dogs, ruthless? Today (Sunday) was also cloudy, with overcast conditions. OH and I went for a drive as I needed to get out of the house. We took the 4WD and went along the Discovery trail just out of Kurrajong and into the Wollomi Nat Park bit that is used by 4WDs and horseriders. We met a couple of horse riders at a camping ground and then did this hike to a waterfall and cave. The cave was extremely dark so exposure was a problem as it's a small cave under the falls. Unfortunately the lookout we walked to was more like a white out due to the overcast weather. Here are a few from today, in today's flat grey conditions. Waterfall and cave on a hike from Burralow campsite We drove on to another campsite along Wheeny Creek and there was a very friendly lorikeet there. I know you shouldn't but we gave her some bread soaked in apple juice. She was intent on preening my OH When we left, she flew out of the tree and over to land on us and we had to put her back in the tree twice. I just hope she wasn't someone's pet and just friendly. The campsite had a couple of campervans camping there by the creek. Because the day was grey and light was low later in the afernoon I cranked up the ISO to 640 but it resulted in a bit of noise in this shot

Last one. Topic: People The swan tagger, Lakes District, UK. This (rather cute) guy and another assistant were tagging the swans on the Lake Windermere while their boss (the large guy with the clipboard) was telling them what to do while he wrote their progress down on his clipboard. Not sure if they were student vets, rangers or volunteers but there were some seriously p*ssed of swans who were trussed up like Christmas turkeys while being tagged, weighed and details documented before being released. Note swan poo on poor guy's jeans.

Are you sure you're not in Fiji, rocco?

How much do I love my new 70-200mm lens, chezzyr? Thank god I got it when the AUD was hovering around USD 90 cents! (Got my boss to go to B&H in New York in May and pick it up for me on his business trip there). It only stops down to f/4 so it's not a fast lens but I've only had it 'hunt' once on me and that was in very low light conditions.

Yeah, not sure what I prefer. I don't think I've applied any sharpening at all to the Cloudy WB shot. I also experimented with Tungsten as it gave the impression that owl shot was taken at twilight/early evening so you can really play around with it, most of the time I leave it on Auto as the 30D's metering system is pretty good unless faced with really tricky conditions.

People: BIG Scottish bloke at Edinburgh Tarten Mill. The colour shot was a jpg shot with a yucky flash tone to it so I did a quick B/W conversion

Wild Lorikeet, ''Bold" is often out the back or front of our place, twice a day if we are home. Often on the windowsill outside my bathroom too if he wants a feed. Or the office window ..

Sure. But I got rid of my kit lens and bought a more expensive lens and that has made a big difference to my photos. I wish I had enough money for one with IS though, but I don't It was a grab shot. I was walking around some castle grounds and hear raptors calling, stuck around for a little while and this bloke came over the horizon, calling to his female whom I couldn't see, but could hear. I only have a 70-200mm too. Here are the settings: Aperture f.5.6, shutter 1/4000, which is a bit overkill for shutter speed but it was late morning on a bright overcast day and my camera was already on f/5.6 for a previous shot and I didn't change it, just aimed and clicked when I spotted the raptor. ETA: Used AV mode.

love the doggie portraits, Luke. I know what you mean about white balance on a gloomy day. This day was also very grey and gloomy when I took this photo, I remember as it was mid afternoon but again, day was grey and windy (it's Scotland, it's always a bit windy ). He's an owl, outdoors in overcast light. I set the WB to cloudy to warm it up a bit here: and this is just leaving the WB to Auto on a low light day. This may not be the exact same shot but WB was ''Auto'' here, so it was what my camera's metering used given the darker conditions. . For the shot of the swan above, I dialed in +1 exposure compensation so the feathers wouldn't go show up grey. I remember when I had zero idea about taking photos 2 years ago (I mean zero!) and I met some National Geographic photographers who were parked on stools with huge lenses, taking photos of wild flamingos in this wetland area in France. They told me my flamingo shots would be underexposed left on the Auto setting (which is what I was using back then, or sports mode ) and I thought, "Huh?" - now I know what they are talking about.

Can you tell I'm (trying to) do all my holiday snaps today? This was also taken in very late afternoon cloudy light, in fact there was a blustery storm coming in and the wind was whipping up. The light was quite dark. I changed the white balance to Daylight as I think the cooler tones work better with the swan's plumage. The background was the grey water of a pond. Swan in Hyde Park, London.

I hate taking shots in the middle of the day when the sun is high as the lighting casts unflattering shadows. Taking photos on a rainy day can be great for some photos. I also hate that white out sky, it's ok if the sky is filled with rain clouds, can add to the drama of a shot. I took this shot last month on hols in Scotland one rainy late morning. The rain had just stopped and we stopped to get a hot chocolate at a truck stop and I spotted this little guy which I was told by one of the truckdrivers there, was a male chaffinch. Can't remember what the shutter speed is, but my lens does not have IS in it, alas. ETA: shutter speed below is 1/200 @ f/4, focal length 200mm, ISO 400 or if the clouds are grey and it's not a white out, you can still take scenic pics Lens: Sigma 17-70 shutter speed 1/20 @ f/16 (rested the lens on a rock) This was taken on a cloudy day in Scotland with NO fluffy grey clouds. I don't know what this raptor is - an osprey? Wishing I had a longer lens.

The shots I took above of monelite's dog I used my Canon 70-200 f/4 lens but it doesn't have IS so I moved my torso and followed through like you would doing an um, golf swing I guess. I didn't take too many shots, I could see on the screen I was lucky and got what I wanted. I think I made poor monelite run back and forth about 3 times. She's fit enough, she handled it.

The most fun I had taking photos was totally alone last month. OH and I were about to start this hike, it started to pour so I ran back to the carpark with my camera pack (it has a wet weather cover but still) and said I'd sit it out while he went ahead and said he'd be an hour. Typical Scottish weather, the clouds cleared and the sun came out, so out I got, with tripod and walked a small way into the hike where I'd turned back to the waterfall and took shots. I stayed there over an hour, didn't know the time. I took shots with my digital and film camera and had enough time to fit a ND filter and polariser to the lens to get the slower shutter speed I was after. I couldn't do that with my OH with me, he was "so over" me and my camera on our holiday. But I had fun, just me, camera, nature and nobody about me in a vast landscape. That's when I enjoy myself more - if I'm not diving where I can be at one with nature, I like to go out hiking and photograph what I see. How very hippy of me. Pass the lentils.

What is the best way to sharpen a photo with a dog or bird in them? I find if I use USM it sharpens the background too.

polomum, it only came together for me less than a year ago. I read Understanding Exposure and then it all clicked together in my head. I also subscribe to 2 UK photo mags. One is Outdoor Photography for its stunning landscape images, but they only focus on landscapes, travel and wildlife which is what I'm more into, so it doesn't focus on dogs or animals in captivity and they also use images taken with film as well as digital. The other photo mag I get is Digital Camera which has some great articles in it. This month's version is on taking photos at night - light trails, painting with light - it's all in there (but I have the latest UK edition which won't be in stores here yet). You can find these mags at the local newsagents, I find them better than the Australian ones. I subscribe as it works out cheaper and I get the latest edition mailed to me. The panning technique was in the Digital Camera mag, I read it and thought I'd give it a go.

I tried panning when I got my new lens. I used a DOLer friend and her lovely Dobe to try it out. With panning, you use a slow shutter speed and only move your upper torso, that's how I do it anyway, here's a couple of shots: ETA: would have been better if the fence line wasn't in the background, but we were at a dog show, in the car park area so no ideal background in sight.

I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure you'll need the telephoto, set it to a high shutter speed. What are the conditions outside like, light wise? I've taken some action shots using 1/1000 as a shutter speed to really freeze the action, others at 1/500. If taking action shots, I'll set my camera to TV mode. Other people may use other settings. Sometimes I'll use AV mode with a wide aperture (lower f stop number) if the conditions outside are bright enough, as that gives me a fast shutter speed, I'll take a few shots and check the info to see the shutter speed. I'll have my ISO on 400, no higher than that for action shots to keep noise down, even though the Canons are pretty good, noise wise compared to other DSLRs. I also set it to AI servo for action shots or AI focus if they are still first and then start running (I find my lens is really good for keeping focus on the subject) and sometimes burst mode so I can take a lot of shots at once. Hope that's not confusing for you.

I downloaded a trial of Lightroom and then deleted it. TMI and I couldn't take it in with limited time. I also don't like the fake skies look the grad gives. Just a personal choice. I like landscapes to look as I saw them, not some fabricated copy. I prefer to darken the sky with a grad filter or polariser, again, just a personal choice. For portrait shots though and wedding photography, I totally understand the use of PS and think it's what PS is made for - who wants a big zit on their face for their wedding shots? ETA: PS is great for B/W conversions, that's something I'd like to learn. My BW conversions look washed out, I have no idea how to convert them, even when I dodge - and I'll dodge the shadows but still, there is something missing as I suck at it.

I agree with Luke. I have Elements 5 which has a good RAW converter in it - fill light, clarity, vibrance that CS2 doesn't. I prefer to get it right in camera as I hate PSing and haven't the time for it. So on my holiday snaps I'm currently resizing, I have used a polariser and even a Grad neutral density filter on the sky for some of the sunset shots or days when the sky was a little washed out. You can fake a grad filter in PS, but I prefer to attach mine to my camera, gives a more realistic effect I think. I convert in RAW and then just crop in PS. For RAW I'd play around with the white balance - but find that my camera is pretty good when left on Auto and the conditions are favourable. Then adjust the saturation slightly Maybe fill light and shadows That's it. In PS I'll crop and adjust levels if needed and then slightly sharpen but only slightly. That's it. Maybe add a vignette, maybe not.

I think I took this with the 50mm as well. It's a fantastic little lens. ETA: Subject: A peacock and peahen in Blair Castle Grounds, Pitlochry, Scotland. They look quite Royal don't they? I'm editing my holiday snaps today.

This was a test shot when I first got it last year. Natural light, indoors, no flash 50mm @ 1.8 - subject is moving.

You can get it for under $150, monelite. I think I paid $115 last year for mine. Here is another shot I took with it, indoors using natural window light when I didn't know what settings to use (yes I have to clone out the white wall but this is just to show you how sharp it is) 50mm, Aperture 7.1

Taken with my 50mm 1.8 Aperture 2.5

Oh Sez, that is just tragic. Your poor mum must be devastated. I know what it's like to have a beloved parrot fly off by accident. I lost my beloved female Alexandrine parrot 10 years ago and I chased her around the streets all day and even hired a cherry picker to try and get her down from a tree (the nice man wouldn't even charge me for the hire after he saw me in tears when I just missed grabbing her out of the tree). Last I saw of her was at dusk being chased by a currawong. I think similar happened to her so I know how you feel.

My photos are in separate folders by date and my OH uploaded them daily so I can remember what is on each folder just by the date as I can remember where we were on that day (and later on if I forget, I have my itinerary to go by). I don't think the landscape images need much tweaking, I checked the histogram as I took the shots as I wanted to get it right in camera. So just the basic adjustments I'll be happy with. I'll give it a go next weekend - I don't have the concentration when I get home from work to do that sort of thing and night time light isn't great to gauge colours by.