Regis, I don't often comment on threads, I prefer to enjoy the photos. However, I have to comment on the quality and quantity of your eagle shots. KEEP THEM COMING! I have been fascinated by eagles for over 40 years, and am envious that you have the luxury of witnessing them so frequently. Where I am, there is only a very short window that they may be around. And then, you'll only find them if the river is frozen and the breaks in the ice are just right. I drive an hour in the hopes that conditions will be right, and have never been able to get "that shot". I'll keep trying but in the mean time I truly enjoy seeing your consistent quality shots.

I prefer number 3. The black and white adds to the nostalgia and nostalgia is I believe what you are going for.

Take the 24-70 for its speed and range. Bring a flash, but don't use it until the hired photog has left. Maybe your niece doesn't have the photographer till the very end of the night and she wants you to take pics of the dancing, etc that the photographer may have left for. If you do take more than that, STAY OUT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S WAY AND BE SURE TO STAY OUT OF HIS OR HER SHOTS. Photographers go to great lengths to compose their shots, even the candid shots, to avoid distracting elements. Respect that and be conscious to stay out of the field of view of the photographer. The "free" shots that you capture could ruin countless shots that your niece may be paying dearly for.

Did you have any version of Lightroom previously installed? This happened to me and after several hours with Adobe, the problem turned out that we had to go into the administrator or root account, uninstall the prior version(s) completely and then install to the root account so that all users could use it. Sorry for the lack of technical explanation, but something happened that noone could really explain, they just kept digging until something worked. Unfortunately, you'll have to get a really experienced Adobe tech, otherwise, they won't have a clue what to do.

I use both and am happy with both. I think where LR "beats" Optics Pro is in the exposure sliders. If you bring down the highlight slider in optics pro, in my experience it seems to "muddy" the image whereas in LR that isn't the case. Aside from that, I don't really see any fault worth mentioning.

I don't know how old your daughter is, but she would probably appreciate you keeping it as simple as possible and being inconspicuous about pictures, so bring one zoom (you'd probably be more comfortable with a point and shoot or a good phone) and enjoy your time with her. Get pictures before the dance. No disrespect meant, just trying to help you enjoy the moment without being encumbered and possibly stressing about your camera while you're dancing with your daughter.

One thing no one has mentioned is that you also want to use the correct profile for the paper you are using in your printer. Papers like hp, epson, canson, etc usually have profiles online that you download and then select when your printing so the ink is applied properly.

I'm not sure about the process with a spyder, but with colormunki you also calibrate your printer by printing a page on the specific photo paper you'll be using, scanning said page with the colorimeter, then printing and scanning a second page. It sounds much more complicated that it is, but if you calibrate both your monitor and your printer, and create a profile for the paper you use, you will see dramatically better results.

I've never heard of any VR issue, however, the camera is "charged" when in the on position and your sensor is more likely to attract dust this way. That being said, on occasion I have forgotten myself.

Hopefully, this is an easy fix. Check your setting for continuous high shooting in the menu. If you have it set to 11, it retains the focus and exposure settings from the first shot. If you want it to adjust focus and exposure continuously, you have to reduce your continuous high speed setting to 10 frames per second. I'll keep my fingers crossed that that is your issue, it was mine!

When I first started using Lightroom, I got Scott Kelby's Lightroom Book. Although somewhat long and daunting at first, if you go slow and take your time, it proves to be an invaluable tool that really leaves no stone unturned. He used to put it out in a spiral bound version, what a difference maker for this type of follow along book! Good luck.

I have a profoto D1 Air 500w/s and a D1 Air 250w/s for sale. The 500 has the box, the 250 was part of a kit and has no box. Both are in very good shape and have not seen much use as they are more or less back ups. Never used outdoors. I do not want to ship, so this offer is for those in about a 50 mile radius of Woburn, MA. Prices are $800 for the 500w/s, 600 for the 250w/s or $1200 for the pair. Prices are fair and firm. Thanks for looking.

In case you're wondering, I'm looking to get the new Profoto B1 now that the Nikon control is coming out this month.

My wife is a graphic designer and has been using the "resize" program or some variant of it for many years in order to create photos as large as standup displays and even billboards. The key is to make ALL the adjustments to the image BEFORE resizing it with the onOne or any other resizing software. If you reduce noise prior to resizing the image, you won't get noise as a result of the software. It produces great results.

I'm with Captain C on this one. What are their qualifications to "rate" anything.

Thank you to all who commented!!

I used the nikon 105 2.8 vr. The flash is the Nikon R1. It is a ring that is mounted to the end of the lens and small flashes are mounted onto the ring. The ring can hold several, I have two mounted to it. They are controlled either by the camera's built in flash, or by a nikon ir commander and they can be used either ttl or manual. In case you're interested, the camera used was the Nikon D700.