I wish you had swung your tele to the right and got the row of sailboats standing out of the water balanced on their keels. I think that would have made a dramatic shot. For me anyway.

Very nice work. JB

Picasa has just added features to it's free editing tools. It has a lot of neat features and is very simple to operate. Download it free form Google. Having said that I have just purchased and yet to load Adobe Elements bundle with Premium video editing software. I have some video clips I need to stitch into something.
This will require time and effort to learn. wish me luck. JB

No problem. This is what I was looking for. Solid ideas to improve or diminish the background. It seems to give a better separation from the subject which gives it a slight pop, at least in my eye.

I have set my camera to save RAW files as well as JPG. I hope that will give me more latitudinal to work with as I learn the software.

Thanks. JB

I have yet to open my copy of Elements 10. This image was cropped with Picasa. I have reservations about the tight crop but I also have a problem with the background and I do not yet have the skill to address the issue. I am not sure the cropped shot gains by loosing the setting. comments? Suggestions?

here's looking at you


here's looking at you tight crop

I recall that when digital came on the scene. digital backs were made for some pro cameras. Kind of like the Poloriod film backs for that instant feed back. I also recall the digital film backs cost more than buying a pro quality digital camera. JB

When I take animal shots I will often make a whistle or click or some nondescript sound to try and have the animal perk or tilt their ears to me. Shots 8 and 9 seem to lack a point of interest. There is a lot going on but nothing of primary interest.
the shot of the stature in 9 should be a tight shot with one urn on the side or part of one. The foreground does not frame the subject or lead the eye. I try no to shoot straight on. Your previous cemetery shots were shot at an angle. I would think that if you shot the last two shots closer and down on a knee shooting up at that you could achieve a interesting perspective. I will admit that age and crappy knees does not let me practice what I preach but back in the day it was useful. JB :lol:

Ok, here is one I can't fully remember. I used to mail order 35MM movie film that I had to shoot through a special yellowish filter and mail off for processing. the roll of negatives returned with a box of slides. The film was something like 3064 or some such. That could have been the number on the filter. I thought it was cool. It was cheap and the slides were great. It just took a long time with mail and all. Anyone remember the film and filter required? JB

I think I have one that has not been covered. I remember the drill to take a double exposure. You wound the film back into the can while not releasing it to just take up the slack. Then with your third hand, you pushed the release button while holding the rewind knob so the exposed film stayed put and with your other third hand you cocked the shutter. ready to shoot. JB

You are placing your subject dead center. the bird as well as the loon. Your shot would improve in my opinion if you raised the lens in both shots and got all of the feeder and less of the foreground for the loon shot. The deer could use her feet as well. If you have a zoom back off a little bit and you will have room to crop. The viewers eye will go to the point of interest. do not center it if you can. Nice work. JB

I may be out of my depth here but I think a lens works because of refraction. the light reflected off the subject is bent/refracted and focused on to the film plane. the refraction is the bending/shrinking from the big scene through the focal/length onto the focal plane. A reflection is light /image that bounces back off a surface and is not refracted or bent. It can appear bent if the surface it reflects off of is curved like a windshield of a car or a chrome bumper. the more I think of it. the water drops are not true reflections. But I really do like the shot. JB

I liked the photo as soon as I saw it but discounted it as a contender because it shows drops of water acting as LENSES capturing light. The challenge was a reflection. It is true a lens can reflect an image but he reflection is where it lands not through the objective lens. I still like it but if that is a reflection than any photo is a reflection which of course it is. But that was not what the challenge was. JB

Thank you Winhto, I had seen the offering on eBay. I think I will buy one from a seller in the US simply to acquire a warranty. A flash is not the kind of thing that I would buy direct from China or Japan and have to deal Internationally if a problem surfaced. Electronics of this kind can fail in the first 30 days from a out of spec component. If they don't they will most likely last years. The difference of $30 does not balance against the risk.

I gather you are pleased with your Flash. Which model do you have that is similar?

thanks Joe. I thought that was what it was. I downloaded that software as a free demo a while back and did not use it as I did not have my D90 yet. I think it has expired and the demo printed a watermark security as I recall. I don't recall it being described in those terms. I thought it was a relevant solution when you had very contrasting light so you could pull up the shadow detail that would die if you exposed to the dominant light source. Thus giving you what we used to do by dodging with an enlarger.

I still would have mounted my polarizer.

Thanks for taking the time to answer a new digital rookie. JB

I need a bit of digital education here. Returning to DSLR photography after a 25 year hiatus from slides. What is HDR? The cars are great. I would have used a polarized filter to pop the paint and lines. thanks for any direction to a tutorial. JB

I am new to the site and want to say Hello.

I am preparing to order some gear later today and since it looks like there are almost 200 members online this morning ( VA USA) I thought I would ask if anyone has anything negative to say about the Nissin Di622 Mark II flash for Nikon or Cowboy Studio’s 30in. Photo Soft Box.

http://tinyurl.com/6v6eg5z

My wife wants a soft box to shoot eBay offerings. I just want to avoid buying junk if possible.

Thanks in advance for any comments pro or otherwise.
JB