I purchased the Tamaron 18-270 back in early June for our Alaska trip because I wanted one lens to carry and the lens came highly recommended and had super reviews. I hadn't had a chance to use it much before vacation. It was the only lens I took on vacation. My pictures looked good when reviewing them on the camera, but upon returning home and viewing them on the computer, I was disappointed in the sharpness and clarity of the majority of them. I thought it was just me not using the camera and settings correctly, afterall I am still learning how to use my D3000 to it's full potential. Thank goodness we had a second camera with us, so all was not totally lost. I've been using the lens more lately and experimenting more with info I've learned from here, but my results haven't been a whole lot better, there still is not the sharpness and clarity I had expected.

We just returned from a 16 day tour of Alaska. What a beautiful state! We came home with over 16,000 photos to go through, unfortunately a lot of them are not good as it rained 95% of the time we were there and 95% of out time was spent inside a moving mode of transportation with wet windows! But regardless we had an awesome time. Here are a couple of our pictures.

Moose in Denali


Sunset in Denali


Eagle in Seward


View from our cabin in Seward


Glacier Bay


Alaskan Sled Dogs

Beautiful pictures of your Greyhound! She looks like a couple of the Greyhounds my parents have had over the years. They have had 5 at times. The rescue organizations are fantastic and Greyhounds are awesome pets!

It is definately a Catalpa tree. We are in Indiana and have a very old huge one in our yard. The flowers are beautiful and very fragent. The pods are really cool and look neat when they dry up. It does make a mess, but if you live in the country like we do, you don't have to worry about it as nature takes care of it!

Awesome photos!! How do you get such beautiful vivid colors?

I want to say thanks also to everyone for the info. We fly out Friday morning for a 2 week "trip of a lifetime" to Alaska, staring in Anchorage. We will be traveling by rail from Anchorage to Denali, taking the all day bus trip thru Denali then the rail to Fairbanks. We have a riverboat cruise scheduled for Fairbanks. Then we fly to Juneau then to Glacier Bay where we are taking a whole day cruise. Back to Juneau then back to Anchorage. From Anchorage we are taking the rail to Seward and then renting a car for the last few days, so we are hoping to experience a little of everything on this trip. I am taking my Nikon D3000, Tameron 18-270 lens and my husband just bought a Nikon P500 36x zoom so he can also take photos. We have several extra batteries and memory cards so hopefully we are well equiped and prepare! Looking forward to an amazing trip and hope you have an awesome trip a well!

I was out working in the yard this morning when I spotted this Hummingbird Moth in the flowers. I was so excited as I have never seen one before. I ran in the house, grabbed the camera and started snapping pictures. Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Beautiful photos! We toured the West Baden Hotel during their remodeling several years ago. We sat on the grounds and watched the helicopters put the domes on. That was an awesome experience.

I have an Epson photo scanner and it has done a magnificant job of scanning slides, phots and negatives. It's very simple to use. I have done hundreds of slides for friends and family and they have been extremely pleased with the outcome.

Thanks everyone for the great information, I really appreciate it. I felt what I had was adequate, but I do get frustrated when I have to stop and change lenses and I always have that fear of dropping one. I've been thinking about the suggestion of renting a lens or purchasing a new lens. I did some reading last night and came across a review of a Tamera 28 to 300 that did perk up my interest. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us and I want to be able to enjoy myself and take great pictures.

I'm new to this newsletter and rather new to digital photography. I've been reading the newsletter for several months and totally enjoy it and have learned a lot. I don't know my camera very well yet, I've taken a beginners photography class and did learn a lot about my camera, biggest problem is time right now -- between working 2 jobs this time of year, taking care of elderly parents and a huge house remodel project, my camera hasn't been taken out of the bag since Christmas. But Spring is here and now it's practice, practice, practice and putting some of you suggestions to good use!

I am looking for some advice on lens choice for an upcoming vacation to Alaska. We are going the last week of June and first week of July. I own a Nikon D3000 and a 18-55 and 55-200 mm lenses. My husband (who by the way was the one that bought me the camera and lenses, insisting I needed to move up from a point and shoot!) thinks I need more lens choice for wide angle and close up on our upcoming vacation. As I said, my knowledge is very limited and I would like the opinion and suggestions of all you experts out there. Thanks!