Thanks you have a very good eye. I did not see them until you pointed them out.

Went to the beach to photo some dolphins in the surf. They were too far off shore so I looked for other things. The angry sky proved to be a great backdrop for the lighthouses (Cape Henry VA). i had only brought my 75-300 lens so i had to do a lot of walking to frame the two light houses. Then I used the AE bracket feature taking 5 frames at 0.7EV hand held. The stabilization feature in the camera together with the ghosting removal in Photomatix helped get some interersting results. Comments from the hog community are always welcome. The more I use this camera the more I love it!

That's what perfect portrait is for we can look like we want with out diet or exercise or plastic surgery! Life is good.

Oh one more thing, Vampires in the mirror!

I joined a photo club and one of the things we do is a scavenger hunt where you meet at a location take pictures of things on a list such as water, reflection, wind or whatever. Then we break up into groups of 2 or three and take the pictures then we all meet up at some specific time and share the pictures. What is amazing about this is that the person right next to you saw things that you did not see. It really helps to look at things from different angles and broaden your prospective. Besides that it promotes fellowship and social interaction. Our club has members raging in age from 19 to 93 from people that use their smart phones to people with $$$$ worth of equipment all races and sexual orientation what we share is a passion for photography and a desire to share what we learn. The secret to the club is no officers, no dues and no rules well there is one rule if someone asks you a question you are honor bound to answer it or to help them find an answer.

I have a very hard time with birds in flight, tracking is my main issue and the only way to fix the problem is try try try!

Don't change the image size change the canvas size using PSE to 8x10 then center the image on that canvas using the move tool then send it to the printer I think this will work as the printer will see the overall image as an 8x10 rather then 8x8

Thanks that is what I was going for.

Thanks I did not think of that I appreciate it //Don

Please do. I have been working on the bird to make it pop but not very satisfied with results. Thanks for the assist

I took this earlier this spring in the marsh along the James River near Smithfield VA. The only editing I did was adjust levels and midtone contrast.

I am always interested to see what my fellow hogs think of it.

I also like Photomatix pro for its ability to process a single image or multiple images (I have processed up to 9)this along with Elements 11 is just about all a non professional would need (IMHO). This image was created using 5 images at 0.7EV (Sony A77) then processed with Photomatix Pro using one of the presets and no futher processing. Simple and effective. BTW you might want to look at some tutorials on youtube for any software you are considering this will help you decide what is best for you.

Yeah so true. My camera club is 49% Cannon and 49% Nikon, then there is me with Fujifilm and Sony. Then they see my pictures caught with a camera that costs less then their lens and O! you did that with a bridge camera? Also great for traveling one camera, one battery charger, one set of filters. I have two Fujifilm bridge cameras. S100FS and HS30EXR both are excellent.

I am learning to love my 70-400G. Here is a critter I found looking at me across the river in my back yard. Here in Tidewater Virginia we call everything a river.

The one of the butterfly was taken with a used Minolta 35-70 that I got on ebay for less than $50

Bug Eye

I recently purchased a Sigma lens designed for Minolta. As some Sony Alpha users know most lenses made by either Konica or Minolta for their DSLRs fit and work on Sony Alphas. But there are some exceptions!



If you purchase one of these lenses and have problems go to the following link to see if your lens has an update available. http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/sigma_advisory.asp

Here is there quote on the issue

Notice to Sony a77 and a65 owners using Sigma’s Sony fitting lenses

After thorough investigation, we have ascertained that auto focusing does not work properly when some Sony fitting Sigma lenses are used with Sony a77 and a65 interchangeable lens digital cameras. To overcome this, we will be supplying a free update to our customers. This phenomenon will only occur with the combination of any lenses listed below and the Sonya77 or a65. Future production of Sigma lenses for Sony fitting will be fully compatible with these cameras.