I don't know of any camera that will actually do HDR in camera. That doesn't mean there aren't any, I just don't know of it.

However, Google's Nik2 software is quite inexpensive and will allow you to meld the multi-exposure shots ( bracketing ) into a single HDR shot. Just be sure to use a tripod. The quality of that shot depends on the quality of your gear.

Here's my first attempt at HDR.

middle exposure of five

(Download)

Final HDR image - composed from five bracketed shots

(Download)

Thanks for the link. Interesting story.

The other would be 'The Mexican Suitcase'. I didn't know about the movie, but I have added it to my list. I saw the exhibit at the International Center for Photography in Manhattan; http://www.icp.org/. Incredible story. And a very neat museum.

And if the model is not wearing any clothes, it is pornography.

Very lame. I just love these hard and fast rules.

Nice shot! I envy people that can catch a dragonfly. I seem to scare them away before I can capture them.

I have a Nikon 7100 and can change the prefix with three letters. I used my initials with the final letter being in alpha order. I will have 26,000 images before I need to start over or just change the middle letter. You could just go with the following, which will maintain the same sort order a date taken.

aaa0000-aaa9999, aab0000-aab9999....

Like you, I am just starting with wildlife. My local lake is much smaller, maybe a mile in circumference. After speaking to a few of the regulars, it seems that they just pick a 'good'(?) spot and wait for things to happen rather than chase them. There is always something.

Of course, the local King and Queen, a nesting pair of swans, is the center of attention, so we all check them out first to see how far along they are and then go about whatever we picked for the day.

I've gravitated towards the 'front' of the lake, closest to the road as it is where the gulls and pigeons seem to hang out. Free handouts make them easy pickings to learn how to shoot BIF.

Yes, And did you actually read the whole thing? I quoted them earlier. This is a direct quote from that very site you mention again. Both sentences are from the site. In particular, note the second sentence of the paragraph. You can't have good or bad bokeh. If the soft or out of focus area is pleasing, then you have bokeh. If you do not find that it is pleasing, then you don't have bokeh. I will grant that we will not all find the same things pleasing, much like artwork. You might like the Mona Lisa and I might not ( I do, but I'm making an point), but it is still art. We've now stepped into the world of POV. You say it is art and I say it isn't, but I will never say it is bad art, just not art.

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Bokeh is defined as “the effect of a soft out-of-focus background that you get when shooting a subject, using a fast lens, at the widest aperture, such as f/2.8 or wider.” Simply put, bokeh is the pleasing or aesthetic quality of out-of-focus blur in a photograph.

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Awesome shots! Thanks for sharing that link. I've bookmarked it and will be returning to it!

As it is a Japanese word, I would think that Nikon would know.

From their site; http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Learn-And-Explore/Article/h0ndz86v/bokeh-for-beginners.html

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Bokeh is defined as “the effect of a soft out-of-focus background that you get when shooting a subject, using a fast lens, at the widest aperture, such as f/2.8 or wider.” Simply put, bokeh is the pleasing or aesthetic quality of out-of-focus blur in a photograph.

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I admit that I am new to digital photography ( less than a year ). I am newly returned to serious photography after a hiatus of some twenty years. And boy, do I have a lot to learn and unlearn!

I made the unfortunate mistake of talking about good and bad bokeh in front of two Japanese ( married ) photographers. They both patiently stopped and corrected me; when you have pleasing blur or an out of focus area in your photograph that enhances the shot, you have bokeh. I asked about some of the tools folks use to measure bokeh. The woman laughed and the man smiled and explained that you can't measure bokeh, you can measure the degree of out of focus. Can you measure how beautiful a painting is?

I think the trouble people get into with 'good' and 'bad' bokeh is maybe from the idea of how you may or not like the effect in a given photograph.

Self-proclaimed experts like Bob Atkins and Ken Rockwell may mean well, but they are both wrong in regards to the term 'bokeh'.

There ain't no such thing as bad bokeh. Who ever is saying that is just plain wrong. By definition bokeh is pleasing blur.

No, saying good bokeh is redundant and bad bokeh is like saying bad pleasing blur. Huh?

Bokeh means pleasing blur.

"I heard that!" :thumbup: I get that look all the time. Kinda spooky.

Great shots, truly. One day, I'll get my chance. I hope.

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's
a sunny day
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

This test looks over exposed. I suggest you move in closer and to the right, getting just the stairs in the shot. The grass and tree areas look blown out. It appears that the head of an adult standing on the third row will still be below the top of these stone bleachers. In addition, I would go manual bracketing, checking your shots in between. And talk to the crowd, keeping them engaged.

I called my dealer; Berger Bros., this morning. I am 8th on the list and they got two today. :cry: They are not sure when the next batch will be coming in. :cry: :cry: