Just a few basics:
In a depth of field range you end up with 1/3 in front of and 2/3 behind your precise focus point coming into acceptable focus. So, if your first pole was at 10' and the last pole was at 40' you should focus (search back button focus on UHH) on the pole at 20' (10' before and 20' after)

Does this solve your problem? NO.

You need to choose an aperture (see below) that gives you a 30' dof at the distance your camera is from the precise focus. At least in the above scenario.

Using a dof calculator can help but with digital why not use the trial, delete and adjust method.

I would recommend going with an f11 aperture (usually the best results for any lens) and
change your focal length (wide angle = more dof and telephoto = less dof) and
distance (closer = less dof and further = more dof)
to suit the situation.

If the latter two points are not possible then change the aperture to accomplish the task. Clear as mud?

Good luck we're waiting to see the results.

You definately do NOT want an IR wireless system. What you want is a radio controlled system. I made that mistake a while ago and in dark areas it works OK but get some daylight happening and you are SOL. They are also available on EBay.

I disagree with this response. I say go for it BUT be brutally honest to the families beforehand. Again, BE BRUTALLY HONEST BEFOREHAND! Tell them of your inexperience as a wedding and photographer. I shot my first wedding of my best friend but he was fully aware of my limitations and accepted the oh so less than perfect photos I produced. Yes we are still best friends more than 40 years later. I did learn from the experience and decided to take a p/t job at a local studio. After 2 years of shooting second I had the knowledge and confidence to shoot as first. It's been a fantastic experience over the years. I'm glad I did it. No regrets.

Finally, an answer with some meat. Using a cable on the camera is just wasting the cameras battery power and transfers are slower. Having a card reader gives you the opportunity to transfer from different cards should you change or expand your camera line. The reader can be transferred easily between different computers and is an easy install whereas the camera may need special drivers when installing for the first time.

As for pin bending? In 4 years I have never had any problems but I do treat the cards with respect.

Now you have real information to make a decision.

You need to make a distinction here. There are metallic paper printing and prints made on real metal. The first is most common for us regular folk and a little more pricey than reg paper. The latter is great for displays bolted to your wall, usually outdoors and are very expensive but are reported to last 3 years. Both have a great look.

As to where? Almost all prolabs will do metallic paper and you may have to Google for metal prints but there are lots.

I think that is what I said sans pulling the camera out in the train car. In these situations I just leave it alone till days end. To change a battery or card you can leave the camera in the bag and do the quick change. Emphasis on "quick" As to perusing your photos, save that for days end and enjoy the sights. Give your equipment a break.

Again, this is just my method for these extreme situations. YMMV

Two points of interest. (IMHO)
1. I recommend purchasing direct from Adobe, you get the latest version and don't pay any possible middle man fees.
2. Sad to say with XP you are stuck using version 3 however, that is a fine version which I am very happy with. When the time comes to update my OS I will also update LR to get those great looking adaptations I see and hear about.

While everyone is on the right track (pun intended) the goal is to avoid "SUDDEN" temperature changes. Using an insulated lunch bag is wonderful but when you hit the warm temps for any length of time the camera will warm back up only to get the quick freeze when you go back outside. I would recommend using a cooler pack (those frozen containers of blue goo that don't leak) inside your lunch bag, wrapped with a small towel to prevent patch freezing, to keep the temp cold. At the end of the day it's OK to let the camera warm up slowly Then start all over the next day. This method has been invaluable to me on many occasions.

For those in the opposite temperature spectrum, swap with a warm goo pack.

Looking forward to some great photos. Good luck.

Yes, it can and does very well. A huge example is to import (add to the catalogue, not duplicate photos) all your gazillion photos. Then go to the smart collections and choose all photos without keywords. Sort by date. Click the first in a series of X event, shift click the last photo in the event. In the keyword panel type the general keywords for that event seperated by a comma. (red, car, ford, rusty, broken, junk etc.) when you hit enter those photos will have those keywords assigned to them and be removed from the smart collection. Very cool and as quick as possible.

When finished you can search by keyword such as Hawaii and then add more proprietary keywords via typing or...It also gives you a painter tool that paints all sorts of things including keywords in the photos. So you do your batch keywording then go back and find a sunset. Grab the painter tool type sunset in the paint bucket (my term) and then scroll and click on all the sunsets. No typing just a quick click.

In case you haven't figured it out, I am a strong advocate of LR. This is after almost 15 years of using all sorts of methods all described here in this thread, and many that weren't, plus many of the latest and greatest of programs for handling my photos. They did some wonderful things but they all lacked something and now I wouldn't go back to any of them with the exception of quick viewing an emailed photo or similar which I use an old copy of ACDSee or good ole Windoze.

Use LR and your keywords, they are a Godsend.

Thanks to all for your suggestions (and laments). I have found a pro lab that rents out scanner time giving me the opportunity to save very large digital scan files. My objective for a couple is to print them at up to 30x40 size so very fine detail is required. For the rest I am leaning toward the Epson where I might want an 8x10 or so. Wish me luck.

Hi folks, was cleaning out my old desk the other day and ran across some old 120 negs and slides from the 80's and 90's. Googled where I could get prints made and came up with a place in California. (I am in Ontario Canada)

Other than that it seems as everyone wants to scan and digitize the negs. So I Googled that and came up with $1,000 plus for a good scanner but many warnings asking if this was something I REALLY wanted to take on. With 10 minutes per neg I think not, at least for most of them.

Then there is the flatbed scanners for around $200 which seems like an idea but I have to wonder about the quality seeing as I would like to print a few as 30x40 canvas and paper. (I have my own 44" printer)

Then there is the E-Bay ads for people who will scan them for me which un-nerves me (sending my negs and slides to stangers) just a little.

What do you fine folks think as to the best solution? Most of the negs/slides are OK but a few are very worthwhile keepers.

ditto, no info on the web site.

You are correct.

I have a netbook with a whopping 1 Gb RAM that I take on trips. I have LR3 loaded and it does the job, slow but works fine. That said I certainly don't use it like my desktop. No fancy edits just basic stuff to view and store while travelling.

The salesman said I couldn't run all the stuff I want on it, LR3, LR Timelapse, Star Trails, GPicSync, Geosetter, ACDSee and of course my beloved Photographers Ephemeris, but I do with no problems. (slow is not a problem) and that's just the photo related stuff. Note that I am not delugional enough to try PS on the netbook but it did create a 512 photo timelapse video in about 2 hours. Good little unit.

You say your shots are way over exposed. Hmmm. My guess is that you are in manual and metered without the filter. Once the filter was in place you didn't compensate. In your case with an ND 8 that is 3 stops. So remember to slow down your shutter speed by 3 stops. If you are in any auto mode maybe your exposure compensation is set way high. Regardless, take the photo and peek at the result. Too bright? Slow down the shutter speed and repeat. Good luck.