That is a very good point. And, a point evidently shared by some other countries where, I believe, that it is illegal to do certain type of edits of photo used in advertisements.

Well Gessman, if they are going to hang for attacking disillusioned Mac owners they are going to burn me alive. And it will probability smell bad. Because I will question anyone that tries to convince anybody to buy a Mac, Windows PC, Linux system, Nikon, Canon... whatever base on their personal preference. We should get what fits our needs, budget, other personal requirements, of which only the user him/her self can possibility be aware of. As I used to tell people when they would ask what kind of kayak that they should get (I used to kayak...a lot), you don't let someone else pick your underwear don't let them pick your ... . Sorry about the crudeness, but some people just don't get it. There is no way any for us can possibility know what best fits someone else's needs. We can make reasonable recommendations, as most do by saying "I like my ..." but to say "you need a ...", "the ... is the only choice" etc is totally absurd :-).

Well since you've opened the can of worms and it is raining there, how's the fishing up that way. I find that bite more when a front is moving through. As for the edit in camera bit, different for stokes different folks. Some people like the challenge of doing everything in the camera, some people like the control and results of post-processing. Both ways of thinking are valid. Just as long as everybody is having fun. I love that fact that we are all different, it makes life interesting and enjoyable:-).

D2hundred, I like the way you think. Of course I can see why so called "purist" may get overjoyed when he gets it "right in the camera". But I like and prefer the way that you think best.

The last time that tried a Mac and Cheese I was stopped up for a week;-).

Ufraw, man I don't know if I would recommend that to beginners or for a class. I have and have used it for sometime now. But gee, it is anything but user friendly. You don't want the students to get frustrated and quit. There are other free more user friendly raw editors and converters out there. What are you going to use for the main editor, CinePaint? That's sort of like training a new bike rider by sending him on a trip across the country. It may be possible but it will be a killer and when they finish they will likely go out and buy a new car.

Ah yes, I do understand. Also, I suggest that you stay out of Ferrari dealerships.

You may want to look around here, http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/
You may find a solution. Who knows.

Underexposed is a somewhat subject matter as is much in photography and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Having seen hundreds of such sunrises, I would tend to say the exposure is correct. Sorry that you fail to see the beauty. It does not have to be grand or exceptional to be truly beautiful, else it would a sad world. :-)

No, I've both seen and done a lot of HDR and HDR doesn't look near that good. There is a difference between jump out at edits and just beautiful images. How often to you see an HDR that make you think "I wish that I was there".

I love this thread. Nice shot too. I don't know how many people I have heard complain that they can't get the color and when you ask them when they shoot they tell you something like "well... I get out about 9:30 in the morning..." or I'm in by 6 ot7" . Well, if you shoot in fat midday light you get flat photos. Good job. A bit of advise for the newbies out there, get up early, sleep in the middle of the day and get back up for the evening;-).

By the way, I see nothing unreal about this shot. I have be out many at a time in the early morn or late afternoon and seen skies much like this. Makes you very glad that you are alive. If you do see skies like this from time to time then you serious need to move to somewhere else. I remember a sunset while on a evening walk in southern California that to this day I ask myself 'how can it be so beautiful?'

Thanks Unclebo you have made my day. Keep up the good work.

You will fine that the effect of a polarizer is greatest and 90 degrees to the light source. Put the filer on as instructed by LarryD. Also, just to get an idea go out a day (in either the early morn or late afternoon) with good cloud structure and will doing as Larry instructed but also stand in one spot and turn in a circle stopping every few degree (like start by look through the viewfinder to the north, then east, then south, then west.). You should notice a marked difference as you turn to each new position. You will wonder why you did not use the filter much earlier.

See if you can find the lenses in question on the dpreview site (listed in an earlier post). They tend to put the equipment though some very objective test. But if you are extremely fussy, it may come down to a matter of you hand picking the lens by going through a batch of them at a large store (enjoy your next trip to B&H ;-) ).

I too must say that I find that "The Photographer's Eye" by Michael Freeman to be an almost endless source of excellent information and advice. I have had may copy for some time and still refer to it. The last time was earlier this week. Really! Also, ShakyShutter's advise of going to the library is very good and very cheap too. :-)

I don't use Indexed color mode, but my understanding is that the colors are fixed and mapped. So I would assume that once set they can not be changed. It seems to me to be inherent in the design of the index color mode. If this is so then it maybe that the only way to deal with it is good planning beforehand.