Ripley

I read a quick way of doing it is to crank it right up and then select the 'fade' command from the drop down menu and lessen the strength to your taste how it affects the image. I haven't sharpened any shots yet as I loathe image editing (because I am lazy and hate spending time on photos, I like taking them, I hate resizing, cropping etc).

If you leave your Canon on auto (I have a 350D and auto is the green button) in conditions where the light is on the low side, the shutter may slow to that light and set a slower speed and you might get blurry shots. (The built in flash is pretty weak too I've found). OK, what I'd do if it was me is have the ISO on 400 and increase the shutter speed and view your photos on the screen - use that zoom in button control - does the 300D have that? On my 350D the screen is small so I always zoom in on a shot to see if it's sharp enough - it's still hard on that damn small screen on those Canon models though! You could try doing that to make sure you have set a fast enough speed. Maybe try 1/500? You could start with 1/250 but that might not cut it, depending on the light. I found 800 ISO on my 350D introduces noise but 400 is fine. As for white balance, maybe leave it on auto WB. Hope this helps but I could be wrong. edited to add, depending on the light, you could crank the ISO to 800.

Wrap a plastic bag around the lens and body and secure it with a rubber band, poke out a few holes for the viewfinder and control buttons. I had to do this in a rainforest recently after some heavy rain due to rain droplets falling on me from above trees. You might get splashed by the kids and one good splash of water could ruin your camera. Indoor lighting might pose a problem with white balance. Will there be natural light from windows at all? I remember indoor pools when I was a kid had these huge floor to ceiling windows that let a lot of natural light in. Bump the ISO to 400. Have you used the TV button at all on your Canon? I don't take action shots so am not the right person to advise. I know what I'd do, but it may not be the best advice you get here

Thanks for you advice, guys. I'll check out the sigma lens too. My old Tokina is a lot heavier than the canon kit lens too.

Yes, it can. It's a 28-300mm (just checked). In fact when you point it down, it slides right out to 300mm as it has no 'lock' on it to stop it. It's AF as well as MF though. OK, I think I've got it. B&H in NY have a description of L lenses that I read tonight. B&H have the L 200m lens for about USD$560 and their warranty is international that is (supposedly) valid by Canon here in Australia. It says it's a 70-200mm telephoto lens: "This high performance telephoto zoom lens EF 70-200MM 1:4 L USM provides excellent performance for all general purposes. The compactness and lightweight make it an excellent travel companion. Features Lens construction: 16 elements in 13 groups Diagonal angle of view: 34°-12° Focus adjustment: USM Closest focusing distance: 1.2m Filter size: 67mm High-performance, L-series telephoto zoom lens combining lightweight and compactness with an f/4 maximum aperture" So if it's a zoom, and as it's an L (what does the L stand for, luxury?) and if I wanted extra zoom to take on a trip, given it's quality I could pack a teleconverter some months on if I buy this just before we go if need be. It's not like I'm going to Africa, but Scotland does have wildlife. Mostly deer, red squirrel, partridge and pheasant that I saw a few metres from me but was too slow or didn't have my DSLR on a hike as it gets tiresome lugging it around - especially if you are 'munro bagging'

chezzyr - The L series is a fixed length? I didn't know that - I don't know about zooms. The Tokina is a zoom but not very sharp. For travel I will need a zoom. Back to the drawing board! I'll do some research tonight, didn't have time at work today. What I want is a sharp zoom lens 200 to 300mm under $700. I wonder if that's possible. I want better travel photos and now have the better wide angle lens to get them but not the zoom. Sigma make a zoom for under $500 and I really like their 17-70mm wide angle that I have - the difference in photo quality from that lens compared to the canon kit lens is amazing - the colours are more vivid for one thing.

tess - when I'm on holiday I do. However, I don't use my DSLR camera much at all unless I'm away somewhere. On our last o/s trip I used the 200 and 300mm lenses for photographing buildings in cities - used it a lot actually to get close ups of famous landmarks but I was fortunate enough to use a bridge to rest my lens on to photograph er, another bridge so the shot wasn't ruined by shake and it was dusk too. I also used it about twice for wildlife shots on a recent local hol. If we go to Scotland this year I'll be taking my new Sigma 17-70 and the Tokina 300mm and hopefully a brand new 200mm lens - plus a polariser and 2 stop ND filter - that's it! I have a Lowerpro backpack that ties around my waist and chest so it't not too heavy.

I was thinking of getting this lens "Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM" and selling my zoom kit lens which is a Canon 75-300mm 4-5.6 EF that I bought when I got the 350D in mid 2006. I can't afford the IS Canon lenses that are between $900 and $2,500 as we might be going to Scotland later this year and I need to save for that - but I want a better lens to take sharper travel shots. What is meant by the "L" on a lens other than it means it's a good lens?! I already have a 300mm Tokina f4-5.6 lens that is a heavy beast and was on a film SLR we had in the 1990s - it fits my Canon and I took some shots with it while on holidays so I will be able to slot that on the camera if I need the extra 'zoom'.

Are you using P mode? The default setting on my 350D is 100. I know this as husband wants to use the camera tomorrow on site and told me to switch it back to the default mode (I know he'll shot in Auto mode), so I pressed 'clear camera settings' in the menu and noticed that the default ISO setting on the Canon 350D is - 100. Maybe it's the same for your's as well? I was not aware it switched itself back, it hasn't for me before but I change ISO to suit the conditions I'm shooting in - although sometimes I've forgotten. ETA: I think if you choose the portrait mode, it's an automatic mode, and that locks you out of a lot of creative features - including ISO. Hence why it may have defaulted to the ISO of 100. Portrait mode usually just blurs the background a little, I think.

Oh I put the jacket over the backpack after I'd put on its waterproof cover as well. I had 2km to run back but only managed to run half of that in the rain. I have found gaiters to be a must for my legs - not a fan of leeches.

My UV filter is a Hoya. I bought it in Tamworth recently so not sure how much they are in Sydney. I paid close to $70 for it to fit a 17-70 lens. I'm not the most gentle of people with my equipment so don't want to risk a scratch on a new lens I got for Christmas. Plus, I carry my camera in a Lowerpro backpack made for cameras that also fits a bottle of water and a few other non camera stuff in there so I can change lenses if I like. I was on a hike the other week, and I heard the rain coming through the rainforest so I had to quickly stuff camera and lens back into bag, pull the wet weather cover over bag and run.

Do you bother cloning out lens flare? I left my lens hood (it came with my lens) back in the car on a hike and have a few flare dots in a backlit photo. I hate PS-ing and my first attempt at cloning didn't go too well. edited because the photo sharing site i loaded my photo up on darkened the photo.

austen, It was through my local council's Community College. They ran two courses - an introductory photography one and an advanced photography one - I did the advanced one - both were catered to people with DSLRs. It was 2 Saturdays and cost about $150 I think. The college run them twice a year - I'm booking my husband in on the introductory one in March so he can take the camera off the darn green auto button for once. I found out about them as the college distributes a brochure in the mail with all types of different courses you can do and it was in that. I want to do a landscape workshop in the Blue Mts in a few months but I'll have to see how finances go as this one is not cheap.

I have a UV filter on my new sigma 17-70 to protect it. Cheaper to replace a $60 filter than a lens. I also have a Hoya Polariser for my 18-55mm kit lens and a 2 stop Grad filter for my 17-17.

ruthless, if you look above your viewfinder on the Canon, there is a tiny dial that has a + and - key on it. Turn that and you will find you can read the focus guide and other writing in the viewfinder when you put your eye up to it. (Says yours truly who only found out this about 2 months ago).

Read the manual. It will show you how to use the different settings.

Use a tripod would be what I'd do. You do have that IS lens though, don't you - so maybe not as much use for a tripod. Um .. trying to think. You could lean against a tree to stabilise yourself when taking the photo. Bump ISO up to 400. I was going to suggest a focusing mode but not sure if that would be correct as I don't take photos of moving animals. AI Servo mode for running dogs has been suggested to me before but I haven't tried it. chezzyr, tess and others here with more knowledge will give you better advice.

I accidently wiped most of my Tasmanian holiday shots from Jan 2006 on our computer at home. I was so annoyed as it was a holiday with just my sister and my mother. Fortunately they have a few snaps too but they still have old pocket film cameras. Another goof is at Christmas time. I took my Panasonic pocket digital to our fancy dress work Christmas party which is a huge do. I wondered why the photos came out with a sort of grey mist over them and cursed my camera. Then, a few weeks later while using it again, I had a look at the lens on it and realised it was covered in goo. God knows what, probably make up or alcohol.

Well if you want to go to Provence, chezzyr, go before the Minstrel - the minstrel is the extremely cold wind that sometimes arrives in winter and blows for weeks. It has been known to send people quite mad. If I were a flammy, I'd flee! I think they head south then to Africa but not sure. They are the Greater Flamingo, which is different from the Carribean flamingo. The reach maturity at 2 and they live about 20 years in the wild. Bit about the French ones: "The Camargue, in southern France, is one of Europe's most important wetland sites. Flamingos visit in their thousands to breed every year, along with other bird species such as terns, avocets and purple herons. The area is a National Park and is strictly protected. Demand for agricultural land by ever-increasing human populations puts pressure on the vital wetlands which are depended upon by a huge variety of species. The flocks in the Camargue are protected during the breeding season to minimise disturbance, and aircraft are banned from flying over the breeding grounds." The greater flamingo is particular about its choice of habitat. It needs shallow, very salty lagoons and lakes in which to fed and breed successfully. The flamingo dislikes disturbance, particularly at breeding times, and will often seek out larger expanses of water for solitude. Most colonies will stay over winter if the weather stays mild. But these birds will move on if the weather turns bad" ** - so I guess they are happy here and people respect them in the Carmargue - it really is a huge wetland region. We spent a day there but could have stayed more time as we only saw a small portion. I never saw any baby chicks but the juveniles are grey, whereas the mature adults are pink. They don't reach maturity until they are aged two. Bit like swans - the young flammys are not as pretty - all beak and legs and grey down on them. We also saw white horses and the wild bulls of the region. Plenty of ranches there for you to have a ride on a white horse too. No cross breeding of their white horses allowed, it's a French law.

I can't remember, chezzyr. I know that they were in khaki shorts and shirts and hats with Audubon Society on them. The flamingos weren't disturbed by human presence, there weren't that many of us there as it was late afternoon and the tourist season was over (this was late September 2006). It's the largest protected wetland in Europe and the French are very protective of their flamingos there as well as their national white horses. I think the flamingos stay there year round, some fly south to Africa but some stay in the wetlands. There is a boardwalk around a few of the larger lakes and viewing platforms and chairs to sit down and just take it all in. In fact, at the cafe they have when you leave, some squabbling flamingos were making a hell of a racket while we sat down and had a snack - they aren't interested in bumming food off you like some birds! I found a site here of a travel blog from someone who is a pretty good photographer I reckon. You can see his photos of flamingos and many other birds as well as the white horses of the area on this site: http://users.skynet.be/wielewaal/Camargue%202001.htm This is a shot I took with a 300mm lens I think - well it was that or it was the 200mm lens, I can't remember as I had no idea about taking shots when we went on this trip as I had just bought the camera. So yeah, you can get pretty close to them. Here is a shot I took there - just aiming my 200mm up and clicking on Auto

This might sound like something stupid, but it's not the internal mirror is it? ETA: I have a 350D and I've never seen anything like that. Have you cleaned your camera yet? Buy a prof cleaning kit, I think they are about $30? My husband cleans my camera for me as he's an engineer and won't let me near the workings of any electronic equipment.

500mm at the zoo! Je-sus! I would have laughed. Not an open range zoo??? I guess they wanted the close ups REAL close. Then again, I have no idea how big the enclosures are these days.

I know what you mean. When I first decided to get a DSLR it was to take better travel pics so I could blow them up bigger than my pocket digital, that's the only reason - that and I wanted a bigger lens for close ups after using one on a film camera. I had no idea how they worked, just that they were long and I could get close ups. Wow-ee! I snapped most of my shots on 'Landscape', 'Portrait' or 'Auto' modes and they came out ok, but we had lots of days with clear blue skies. I remember feeling excited as I was snapping away at close ups of wild flamingos in a wetland in France, amazed at how close my really old beast Tokina 300mm focused. Then I walked around the lake to find 2 National Geographic photographers sitting down, legs splayed, with these huge - I mean HUGE grey lenses mounted to tripods. I instantly went, "Wow, that's serious". Lovely people btw - older couple totally into wildlife.

Because I'm a beginner and therefore can stuff things up the first time I try something before I learn from them, I wonder if anyone else more experienced still has some goofs when taking holiday pics or even prof pics? My recent goof was metering AFTER I attached my Grad filter and also not ensuring it aligned properly and therefore the foreground was too dark. I don't have an excuse other than it was a new concept and I was extremely bleary eyed as it was 4.45am. Doh!

This amused me. I'm sure (I hope) it was tongue in cheek. It was a response to a 10 Rules of Photography article I had somewhere that this person said must have been written by "old guys" ... ** 1)Don't bother with a tripod....your camera has an Auto mode that usually strives for the fastest shutter speed possible to save you the trouble of lugging a tripod. 2)No need to take your time composing carefully, and studying the edges and corners of the viewfinder. First of all, you can't because you don't have a tripod. And secondly, any stray junk that happens to intrude into the composition can be eliminated with Photoshop. 3)Along with number two, remember...the name of the game is to shoot as many frames as possible. You're not paying for film processing and developing anymore, so fire away. 4)Don't bother reading the owners manual. There are plenty of people who'll be more than happy to look up the information for you. 5)No matter how bad your photo turns out, it can be rescued by cranking up the Saturation slider. No one will notice...they'll all just marvel at the quality and wonder how you did it. 6)To really make your photos pop, and make people jealous of how sharp your camera is, don't forget to crank up the Sharpness slider. Don't be shy with it. A little goes a long way, but a lot goes even farther. 7)There's nothing wrong with your technique. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as technique. If you see a portfolio full of consistently excellent images, the photographer probably just has better plug-ins than you. Technique is simply a matter of finding the right plug-in to make your picture look the way you want it to. Unless it's because your equipment isn't good enough. In that case, it's time to find out what everyone else is using, and buy that. 8)Whether or not you're taking any pictures, always make sure your biggest lens is mounted on your camera, for everyone to see. Yes, it does impress. 9)There are lots of websites out there that offer critiques, where never is heard a discouraging word. If you like hearing "Wow, nice shot!", find one and start posting. You'll soon feel good about yourself, and everyone's a winner! 10)Mid-day is a great time to shoot, because by then all the photographers with their clunky tripods have long since left. Who needs to be tripping over tripod legs anyway? Not you, because you have the ability to jump out of your car, instantly ascertain the best composition, grab your shot, and jump back in the car to race home and oversaturate, oversharpen, clone, clone, clone, and post.