Heading there next week when I'm in NYC. I want to see firsthand the new Mavic Mini drone. I think Santa might pay me a visit with one this year... :-)

Yikes, this defines my mentality toward photography. I see something cool, buy it, then have to figure out how it fits into my style... Just look at all of my various lights, flash attachments, light painting tools, etc. But it sure is fun to figure out!

I also have this lens and its one of my favorites. However, I do not have any filters for it, as I cannot bring myself to buy the square (or rectangular) glass filters and holder and likely not use them.

You don't have this problem, since you bought a "package" deal. Here is a great article on the types and uses for filters, from B&H's Explora site: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/buying-guide/a-guide-to-filters-for-lenses
Also, here is a link to my search results from the same site, so you can look at what else is available from that site: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/search/site/filters%20and%20holders

Happy shooting! You're going to love that lens.
-Mike

I'm a really big fan of cloud photos. Where I live, we get fantastic sunsets over the Hudson River, and I love the shapes and colors that come every evening.

I will say that your shots are really good. My only advice would be to pay specific attention to your exposures. On the first two shots (clouds & tree stumps), it looks like you're missing out on some shadow detail. The trees in the cloud photo are missing detail, and the right corners of your second shot appears very dark, without much detail. Same for the background tree trunks in that shot. Without knowing what your setting were, you can likely get some of that detail back in PP. However, I would encourage you (if you don't already do this) to learn how to read your histogram. I have my back panel of my D750 set to display a smaller view of the photo, along with the histogram of the photo. That immediately tells me if I've "clipped" either shadows or highlights.

You can use a tripod and bracket your shots to reveal and open up the shadows. A tripod isnt always necessary to do this, but it really helps.

Keep shooting and posting! It really comes down to practicing, and learning what to change or add in order to get the photo you want when you lift the camera to your eye.

Great topic, and its a discussion that will never have a definitive answer (except perhaps to ourselves). For me, I adjust the basics: exposure, WB, cropping... However, I tend to want my photos to look more natural than "fake." I mostly shoot landscape, so this isn't too difficult for me, since I know what I saw when I captured the image.

However, I will caveat my above statement, because I do occasionally venture out into the night for Milky Way photography. In those instances, my camera can see the MW much better than my eyes can, so I tend to "trust" the camera's view when processing. I may bump up the saturation and/or texture to really bring out the MW in those shots. Fake? Perhaps, but again, I cannot see the MW as well as my camera can in those instances. I view other folks MW photos, and follow National Parks at Night, who take A LOT of MW photos, so I try to use their tips and tricks to bring out what is there, but not necessarily to make it look unnatural.

Glad you are a part of this forum, and great topic to post about!
-Mike

Wow, thank you! I do not make a living at this, but that would certainly be cool.

I appreciate everyone's comments, thank you all. I have really enjoyed photography for several years now, I have never had the nerve to post anything here. I just thought these were important, because of the anniversary and the chance that I happened to be there. I was also hesitant to post them for the same reason.

Thanks again everyone, I really like this site and am happy to receive the compliments.

-Mike

I work in a sales position, mostly from home, but sometimes get to visit customers in NYC. I happened to have a meeting at 7 World Trade Center last Wednesday, and realized which day it was. So, I grabbed my camera and my 50mm lens, and thought I'd be able to capture something that would make sense on a day like that, though I had no idea what to expect.

Surprisingly, the area wasn't very crowded, but there was certainly much more police presence than normal. I could see from the window during the meeting, there were sharpshooters on the rooftops around the Memorial.

Anyway, I found myself being drawn to more abstract photos, beign that the actual memorial ceremony was only open to victims and family members of the victims. Here are just a few of what I captured. Converted to B&W in Lightroom, adjusted highlights and shadows, and then saved as JPEG files. This is my first time posting any photos, so if they look strange, I will try again.

I love that view of the Statue of Liberty. I tell everyone I know who visits to take the Circle Line tour of Manhattan. I honestly believe that is the best way to see her. Much easier than going to the island itself.

So sad to hear about this. My dog, Charlotte is getting older, she is losing her hearing and has trouble getting down the stairs now. I know the end is coming, but I'm trying not to think about it.

Stick with what you like. Personally, I "graduated" from the D3200 to the D750, and have not looked back. Sure, its heavier, but the photos I get (mostly landscape) make me happier having the full frame camera and lens combos. I still use the D3200 from time to time, mostly to get shots of my kid playing baseball, the crop factor allows me to get closer to the action with a zoom lens.

Really, with the technology these days, you don't need the full frame experience to get GREAT shots.

This is what I was going to recommend. I really want to get out there to shoot!

I always reformat once I've uploaded the photos from the card. I actually find it easier than deleting (less steps). But I also reformat because much like deleting a file from your computer, its not really "deleted" until new data is written over it. Now, I dont know if it is exactly the same thing with a card, but I'd rather start clean than take the chance of "deleted" data corrupting my photo shoot. I think its just better to start with a clean card each time...

Shutterboss 2. I have two of these ok m my bag at all times, in case one does. They're great, really easy to use and not too expensive. There are less expensive versions out there, but Ive only used the Shutterboss.

When we go into Manhattan, my wife HAS TO go to Macy's, so I walk a few blocks to my Mecca. I only wish I had more money when I walk in there. And that the candies were bigger...

Wanted to share this link. It's the latest blog from nationalparksatnight.com. I thought it was fitting that it was just sent out, considering this topic came up this week:
https://www.nationalparksatnight.com/blog/2019/7/6/sliding-into-sharp-skieslightroom-brings-texture-to-night-photography?utm_source=NPAN+Opt-Ins+from+Website&utm_campaign=1321c3582f-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5fe0716fe0-1321c3582f-85523645&mc_cid=1321c3582f&mc_eid=4a1725fb41