rubiton

I reckon yes movement blur with 1/500th - especially since everything else looks pin sharp. If it was camera shake the whole photo would be out. If the sun comes out would definately try with 1/1000th (or higher if it was actually a strong sun and the lightmetering said there was enough light) just to see if that froze that part of his mouth.

I also use to make sure I underexposed instead of over exposing however have learnt that you can get away with one stop too low/open (after that its too much to fix) with teh digital but you cant push it as far as the old days with film. When it came to grain I was worried about a photo I worked on from the yearling sales. Since I stuffed up the focus (got left on manual not auto and I didnt notice til horse was put away) I used the smart sharpen then unsharp mask then smart sharpen again in CS4. End result on screen was photo that looked very grainy - so I thought this is gonna look awful but at least I tried. How wrong was I - printed out at home it looked OK printed by the lab looked fine. Was only in 4x6 inch size but fine and the other two (yet three horses before I worked it out) I could not pick aside from the fact one of them was up against a wall and nothing else was against the walls this year. Not sure how they would print as big enlargements but doubt anything really big will be needed. A lot of my scanned film images also looked a bit grainy on the computer but have printed up to 8x12 inch without a problem. ONe of them came up fantastically in a book (think the book photo people fixed up the colour a little but came out well in a big glossy paper full colour book - you couldn't pick the quality difference between the film scan and the digital image used elsewhere). However I did start to see the grain/noise in images from 12 months ago that were taken on 1000 ISO but it was in near darkness so I was happy to get a photo that looked close to correctly exposed so could live with it. By the way those dog pics are impressive (could border on scary if the food wasnt there!!!). Even the drool in both is sharp in focus!

OMG - look at the eyeballs!!!!! How much difference is there from his chin (bottom jaw which is in focus) and his nose? Just wondering if its movement blur from the speed he is moving that top lip to get the cheese!! Even the top jaw whiskers look in focus (and the cheese which Im assuming isnt quite in there yet).

If a photo is correctly exposed it will be fine with ISO up to and including 800. Higher than that you will see some grain on the computer but if only printed as 4x6 inch it is OK. However if under exposed in low light conditions just about any ISO will come up with 'noise' or grain. Tripid and shutter release sound the perfect way around throwing and taking pics at the same time.

Put him in the sun (with it behind you) - strong sun not diffused and needs to be about 10am before or 2pm or after. Set your camera on Manual. Set the ISO on 400, set the aperture on F8 or less but no further than 5.6. Set your speed on 1/1000th (yes you can blur at lower speeds like 1/250 or 1/400 if you move the camera slightly if trying to throw and click at the same time). Set lens to auto focus and try both AI Servo and One shot (or nikon equiv) Take pics see how you go. Check light beforehand and make sure indicator is in the middle in the viewfinder when pointing at dog start at f8 and if its too dark move down one f stop at a time til its in the middle. If its still dark at 5.6 then bump the ISO up to 500. Good luck throwing cheese and taking pics - I dont even attempt both as you tend to move the camera as you are trying to take it while holding with one hand.

www.dpreview.com has forums - think there were some pro and plenty of info for each cmaera brand too.

She's just turned 10 so WAAAY past pimples (but looks a little like a really angry pimple or human ingrown hair). I did make an appointment at the vet monday for her cartrophan pre winter course before I found it so if not all gone will get it looked at. However if nasty insect bite perhaps thats why she's been a tiny bit quieter the last couple of days too, apparently threw up some grass yesterday (just once) - I thought the change was the onset of cold yukky weather (well its got to my knee) straight after the high 20s and sunny days we had early this week.

NO but did clean the entire area with a very salty salt water solution. Not scratching now but obviously not happy when we were pulling hair apart to get a decent look at it.

Noticed the dog scratching just on her neck under the collar so went to check what it was. Found a tiny angry red lump (like an angry red pimple/mozzie bite/etc only a mm in size) and the surrounding skin with patchy red rash about 2 inches below sort of in a thick kind of vertical area below it (and a tiny bit above). Any idea what this might be? Could it be a bite of some sort?

Camera is not a problem here - coz all she has to do is sit or sit then run or sit then wave and hey presto FOOD treat. She actually waits til the camera clicks and then knows she can move - usually closer and get food. Dog will do anything if payment is involved. However if you forget to pay (such as she gets the paper in and presents and gets paid and then you dont pick it up so she represents and gets nothing) she either gets under your feet as you have obviously forgotten or in the case of the paper reclaims it and takes it back to her bed and then sits on it!

Big head syndrome - I have to make sure I dont go anmy further than 50mm ith the horses or you get big head syndrome. This is perfectly demonstrated in that first shot of Hugh Jackman and the bloke on the right edge who has a massive head and hand compared with Hugh.

What settings did you use? They came out well - the slightest change with settings when you take the pics can make all the difference

Melbomb - I'm not sure on framers but Black and White Photographics send their canvas prints off to a third party to be framed/mounted (think they call it mounted). You could perhaps try giving them a call to see if they can recommended someone to mount it?

First one is fine if there was shadow under the patio (which it appears), second one looks like motion blur either you or more likely the subject (since that bar is fine). Third one is fine. Pick an object (say a coloured car - not white or black) in full sunlight with the sun behind you set the camera to M on F8, ISO 400 and 1/1000th speed. If it looks OK then the camera is fine its just the settings. I don't use anything below 400ISO and havent had a problem in photos right up to 16x24 inch canvas print (havent had anything bigger done with this camera) You could try putting it on P - this does an OK job of juggling both speed and aperture for a shot. I tried both P and the manual settings above for some showjumping two weeks ago (was lunch of xc so if they didnt work so problem) and while the images look the same apart from some motion blur on the front legs when jumping on P the camera used a lower speed setting (say 1/64o) and a higher aperture (F11 from memory). And the close up as the horses cantered past were fine. So instead of trying to 'force' a particular shutter speed using TV & AV try putting it on P (for professional!!) and see how it goes is you arent confident with manual settings as yet. Its amazing the difference changing a setting can make (if you can find a good instructional book on DSLRs that you can follow even better - Im just waiting for PS CS4 for Dummies to turn up due to a heap of new functions in the new software - have already got one very good book on how to do various things but I want the basics explained)

Go out to yearling sales after going to melb for big race meeting the day before. Put small lens on camera and not notice that its been knocked to manual focus until I had already photographed 3 yearlings (the last one was the top selling colt). Thank god for the features in photoshop CS4 that saved this image (and made the two others good enough that you couldnt tell in the 4x6 inch photo that they were not in focus properly).

You lose a tiny but around the edge as in a few millimetres on a 16 x 24 inch size. SOunds like a job for a framers if its already been printed. If not printed would suggest leaving a tiny bit of white around when cropping the dimension for printing.

I wouldnt call ANY of the Canon range digital SLRs 'crappy'. Some of the lower models DO less than the higher ones or arent as weatherproof but really does that matter unless you do go and stand in the rain or need the special things that some do. Megapixels are not the be all and end all of photo taking no matter what the advertisers say. I only upgraded from my 10D to the 40D because the 10D was starting to have problems but I held out for the 40D version and glad I did. Now that the 10D has mega problems and cannot be relied upon the 350D will be my secondary rug & headshot camera at big race events. In fact one of my 350D shots was sold for commercial use a couple of weeks back. I prefer using the 40D if I can get the shot with the bigger lens (talking posed shots) but thats just what Im used to - when the 10D broke and I got the 350D and did one of the biggest horse events and the biggest racing event of the year it did a fantastic job. If the current camera is starting to have issues then its time to upgrade not just becuase there is a newer version out. At the weekend I was standing alongside someone with a smaller lens for a brief time - they talked about the 100-400mm lens I had but they had the one I use for the races. Just as good in the particular situation that was being photographed at the time.

From a professional point of view I agree with chezzyr's suggestions. If its a friend for a project then sure share the files but if you are acting in a professional situation/purpose would only offer a 8x12 print or similar certainly not hi res image files. Depends on the situation.

IM still lost - you point the centre focus at something and the lens should focus on that object. If it doesnt wouldnt that mean the lens is faulty?

The photo looks good - if you wanted to tweak it salightly and have photoshop youd use the highlight & shadows tool and bring the top slider along only to 5. Only a tiny amount only.

With white animals you generally have to shoot with the apertured closed one stop more than normal coloured animals. I take most horse pics in the sun on f8 but if its a grey I will if given the chance change the aperture to f9 or f9.5. A multicoloured dog - as long as all the dog is in the sun you can use the normal setting or close the aperture by one and bring up the dark areas using the shadow highlights tool in photoshop (im not sure what the similar tool is in photoshop elements though).

Personally I love full sun for taking pics of dogs and horses but you have to pick the right time of day. If you use the highlight shadows tool in photoshop you can bring up the dark areas of a photo without blowing out the well lit areas. Works better than the brightness contrast tool (though you may have to tweak that one a touch as well).

Personal taste - if you dont like it make a copy of the image and delete it out. Would never make permanent change to an original image though.

The little black cloths that come with sunglasses that are also good for cleaning a lens are great. You just put them through the wash as normal (as already said just a small load without fluffy stuff). I havent actually washed the other cloth that I got years ago but its only used to quickly wipe off a lens when out somewhere and its got a tiny amount of dust on it. For proper cleaning to get rid of duist all over the camera I's been using the microfobre cloths - they clean it off quite well (and the avon make up brushes are great for cleaning the hear to get to areas around buttons).

Agreed - printer at home is simply to check but proper prints are always done via the lab. And would never ever sell ones that I printed out at home.