Basically you are enamored at the sunsets. Unfortunately they are not particularly interesting! Just keep plugging away and you will get it right. Take 20 or 30 pictures at each of you locations, varying the exposure till you get it right. Then you need to think about why is this of any interest to anyone else. Cattle point is the best of the three!

I tell my students that if they want the best lens/camera they should look for the aspheric designation on the lens!

I teach a photography course. I introduce myself as an architect and a photographer. Then I mention that to be an architect requires a license, but not to be a photographer. Why? Because if you make a mistake as an architect it might cause injury to the "public". therefor the public has an interest in ensuring that architects are qualified practitioners (and thus licensed). Its hard to imagine anything a "photographer" could do to cause a public injury, therefor no reason for a license (certification) to practice. I end up by mentioning that in my opinion a qualified photographer is one who has sold his/her products to the public. (Otherwise you are an amateur) Winning cudo's in a photo competition may also qualify!The certification is BS and a way for someone to scam for a fee. On the other hand taking the course "could" teach you something!

I have been the length and breadth of Vietnam (and even underground in the notorious tunnels!) no problem with cameras. People very friendly (I was a bit concerned after some of the terrible things we did over there) but all seems forgiven and tourism (money) is more important now. Food is excellent! You should have a great time.

Halong Bay


Floating Supermarket!

I seem to have this problem all the time! Reason I have so many cheap P&S cameras, I guess. Sand tends to migrate to just about everything, so keep your expensive equipment off the (sandy) ground. One of the new waterproof "armored" P&S would be good. Main thing is you don't want to spoil your trip wondering and worrying. Room safes may not be as safe as you think! I have had a couple of incidents where they could not be opened with the code and had to call the front desk. Surprise...they have a back up "secret" code that will open the safe (or a master key). Seems that security is not too good because half the staff knows the code, or where the master key is kept! A friend was in Jamaica staying at one of the best hotels, his Nikon was mysteriously gone within the first 24 hours!! Insure your equipment if it is more than you care to lose!

Well, I guess that is how the car trunk got its name! Looking at the wheels I think your vehicle is a custom hotrod, but very nicely done. Curiously, in Great Britain they call the trunk the "boot". I wonder if old cars once had a couple of boots stuck on the back? Anyone know the origin?

The "Rocks", Harbor Cruise, Zoo, Manley, Opera House must all be on your list. One thing I can recommend against (unless its on your fantasy bucket list!) is the Sydney Bridge climb. Its outrageously expensive and they won't let you take a camera (they claim its for safety incase it blows out of your hands!!! but really it is so they can sell you outrageously priced pictures.) Blue Mountains also worth a day or two, but check the weather forecast, sometimes they get a fog which blanks out everything you want to see! Instead of the Sydney Bridge go up the Tower, much higher and better view of the area and at a fraction of the cost. Again, however, make sure it is a clear day! Learn some Aussie speak before going, then you won't be too confused!

Good on you mate! (One more, ha,ha,ha!)

If people were not identified by the number of messages they have posted things would be a lot better! There are too many UHH users who make pointless remarks just to get their message count up! Oops, one more for me! Ha Ha.

I think I have given an answer to this question before!...I have the Nikon 18-200 and am well satisfied. However, a friend has the Tamron lens and uses it on an identical camera to mine (D5100). We have compared results on an iPad and his shots appear as good as mine. However, I know that I can enlarge mine to 20x30 with no problem and I have never seen his work at that size to compare. Also, in the days of film I bought a Pentax camera and opted for a Tamron lens because it was cheaper than the equivalent Pentax lens. Was never dissatisfied with my results...bur always wished I'd spent the little extra and gone with a Pentax lens. So I guess the bottom line is you get what you pay for. What can you afford?

I was (wrongly) under the impression that storing data on hard drives, CD's and DVD's was "for ever". Doing some research on conservation techniques learned by conservators (they usually work for museums and art galleries) I learned that all of the above mentioned storage devices have a finite life! Seems that chemically almost all substances tend to oxidize or breakdown in some way. Gold DVD's seemed to be about the best! The only way to get reasonable longevity for your stored data is to make multiple back up copies and then to recopy the backups every 5 or 10 years.

Having migrated from 20 years of PC to a Mac (now into my 8th year) I have been very happy with most of the way the Mac works. However copying DVD's and CD's is a pain using only the Mac OS. I bought Roxio Toast a long time ago and it is surely the easiest way to go. Whether it will do what you want, I don't know... but reading other posts recommending the Roxio-Toast approach, I would suspect so. Anyway it is a good program to have just to make CD/DVD copying easy on the Mac!

I bought a very useful bag from Travelsmith made by Ellington. Its a shoulder bag with space for my D5100 with 18-200 lens and an extra lens and compact camera, plus space for batteries, cards, etc. It has extra pockets for my manual, sun glasses and a water bottle. Doesn't look like a camera bag, but why be concerned....most of the time the camera is around my neck and quite visible! (I do have a neck strap with steel wire). Depends where you are in Africa and how and with whom you are travelling. I would be watchful in Cairo, Cape Town, Johanesburg and Nairobi. Most other parts of Africa I have felt safe enough, usually because I am not in a high density area.(Safari or trekking).

Both stores use Kodak and/or Fuji machines so results should be identical. See who has best price! Quality should be same, but occasionally a machine may not be set up quite right. Complain if results come out badly, both places will redo or refund. I haven't used Cosco, but have had very good success at Sams Club. My best results have been with Apple.

And while you are standardizing batteries, lets get the plumbing manufacturers to standardize washers! And food manufacturers to standardize packages, and so on and so on...