By far and away the sharpest zoom I've ever used is Nikon's 17-55mm f2.8. I moved up from my D300 to a D700. For the 700 I bought Nikon's 24-70mm f2.8. It does not seem as sharp as the 17-55mm.

I forgot to thank you for your recommendation for using Lacquer Mat spray on a glossy photo. I was wondering if this is the photo to which you were referring? It's a great shot!

Which Lacquer Mat coating did you use/recommend - Flat Matte, Satina (satin finish) or some other? As you'll see by my previous answer I will be getting two kinds of glossy 13 X 19 papers.

I want to thank everyone for their recommendations. As a result of your input I ordered a Red River 13 X 19 sample pack for $34.99 (shipping included). The sample pack includes two sheets of the following:

Resin Coated Photo-Feel Papers
68lb. UltraPro Gloss
68lb. UltraPro Satin
66lb. Arctic Polar Satin
66lb. Arctic Polar Gloss
66lb. Polar Pearl Metallic
75lb. Arctic Polar Luster

Matte Photo Papers
60lb. Polar Matte
47lb. Premium Matte
60lb. Premium Matte PLUS

Watercolor 100% Cotton Papers
Aurora Fine Art White
Aurora Fine Art Natural

Specialty
62lb. River Linen

In addition as a new customer I selected 10 sheets of 8.5 X 11 of 66lb. Polar Pearl Metallic as a free sample. I've never tried Red River papers before, but so many of you recommended them that I had to try. Am looking forward to trying the Polar Pearl Metallic first and then the Ultra Pro Satin next.

Again, Thanks

Thanks for the nice complement. Great macro shots on your Flickr pages!

Thanks for the tip. Reading the specs, Polar Satin looks a little better for this print because I assume it would be optically brighter.

I've got a photograph (see attached) that I want to print on 13 X 19 (Super B size) paper. Do you have any paper recommendations for it besides glossy? In other words I want a paper that shows as much detail as possible without resorting to glossy. I have an Epson 2200 printer.

Crossed Canyons

My problem is that I rent both plane and pilot and I have to do so a couple of days in advance to ensure both are available. Trouble is one cannot predict what the visibility will be on the day of the shoot. The other problem is that I have one huge client who gives me a bunch of sites to shoot once or twice a years (usually in Spring and/or Fall). This latest shoot came late and I had to shoot over 20 sites ranging from SE Illinois to near the Indiana/Ohio border to NE of Indianapolis to the Ohio river. So I try and cram as much shooting as I can into as few flights as possible. Plus this year I was given the list of sites to shoot much alter that usual (late October instead of early September). I didn't take into enough account the later sunrise.

Another problem I have is large sites, many of which are at or near a mile in length. In order to get a good perspective on such sites I have to go up at least 3000 feet and ideally higher. Nowadays haze is a usually a problem at 2500 feet and above.

But you're correct I should start flying later in the day and wind up sooner.

But my immediate problem is how to correct the hazy photos I've got. Attached is another example.

Aerial Raw


Aerial Correction Attempt

I'm not sure a polarizer would help with a lot of the hazy no matter what angle I'm shooting at. For I think most of today's haze is caused by particulate matter. Indiana where I'm from has more manufacturing per capita than anywhere else. So we have a lot of particulate from that segment. I don't think filters including polarizers work with is kind of haze. I wish it did! Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for the note. This place isn't as cozy as it first was.

To answer your question a good deal of the work is done by Photoshop ACR where I add a whole lot of Black to bump up the lack of contrast. But then I have to Brighten the hell out of the Raw photo to compensate for the Black added. When opened in PS I play with the Curve tool.

OK Here are some

Waupaca


Honda

BTW, Here is the same subject but with the sun behind. Makes for a much better shot. But people invariably want their sites/buildings shot from all sides. Unless it's noon it's hard to avoid shooting into the sun. With all the haze that prevalent these days it just makes it tough to get a good photo.

OK, here's the pix using Curves channels. It's about the same. The Curves channel allowed me to get rid of some Red/Magenta cast that Photoshop's Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) invariably puts in these kind of shots.

Hmm, Thank you for the tip. I use curves extensively editing aerials but never with each channel. I'll try that immediately. Thanks again.

Thanks for the reply. That is good question, but Yes, I do fly with the window open. I do have several of Topaz products and I once tried Topaz Adjust to some aerials but didn't seem to help. I'll look at Topaz again.

I just now tried to fix the aerial again. Not much better results.

Aerial Photoshop Try #2