Here are my thoughts. Posting on the Internet in a size that can be copied and used commercially without recognition is not smart. Post only small sizes except where there is protection from copying if you do not want your images to be stolen.

For me, a water mark or signature on an image is distracting from the work of art, unless it is very discrete (as in the paintings from the Renaissance) and does not in any way interfere with the enjoyment of the image.

In any case, it is easy for anyone with Photoshop skills to delete your watermark or signature if they want to steal your photo. I never add one to my images. Steal one of my images for your desktop or website and I would be flattered. Steal it for commercial production... I would be flattered and consider (briefly) litigation until I figure out what my legal costs would be and my potential gain from the litigation?

So my work will not have my watermarks or signatures on the image.
(Question: Did Ansel Adams sign his images ON the image, or on the frames? Any one know?

Pardon me for posting one of my Panasonic DMC TZ3 shots on your thread. I was terribly frustrated with the inability to do any manual adjustments, but soon found a way to work around them using Program and the +/- adjustments. This is one of my best shots taken with the Panasonic. It is a composite of two exposures and was taken at sunrise on a tripod.

East Bay Hills, Oakland, California

As noted it is the photographer that takes great photos. But that little Panasonic DMC TZ3 can take super photos with its Leica lens and 10 x zoom. I also saw some of your posts taken with that camera in my thread on Quality using compact cameras. Thank you for illustrating my point that excellent photos can be taken with compact cameras.

Your macro is colorful, sharp and full of detail. Nice work.

I use two lenses for macro or near macro work, both with extension tubes, with my Nikon D90. A F1.8 50 mm, and my 18-200 mm zoom set on 200 mm. The 200 mm (300 mm equivalent) gives me some working distance from subjects. The 50 mm pretty much limits me to plants.

A PM is a Personal Message.

If you shoot weddings, RAW is essential in my opinion, as you will have lighting and contrast issues (white dresses for example) that Jpeg cannot handle well.

I shoot exclusively in RAW for the very good reason that I want the highest level of image content possible, I often shoot high contrast subjects, and I have plenty of time to edit, and I enjoy editing.

Using Adobe Camera RAW, one can convert an entire shooting to Jpeg, if they are all similar, in a few minutes. Once I have the best Jpeg's, from the RAW files, I delete the RAW files except for the exceptional shots, if any, and keep the converted Jpeg files, which are the basis for future editing.

I am a big believer in the KISS Principle (Keep It Simple Stupid), but in this case, I make an exception.

Do you mean the Nikon D700, which is full frame? The D7000 is the same size as your D80. The Sigma 105 is 152 mm equivalent on the D80 and D7000, so it would be 105 mm on the full frame D700, and you would need to get closer to the subject to get the same composition, a problem with subjects that might be spooked, like insects.

The only reason to shoot at a smaller size, in my opinion, is if you have a small capacity card and need to take a great many photos. You can always make a large file smaller, say for posting on the Internet, but if you make a small file larger you lose quality because you are relying on the computer to interpolate the extra pixels created.

Top pic of ramp was taken with a Nikon Coolpix P80.
Landscape was taken with a Panasonic DMC TZ3 (same camera as the post by Alaskan).
Dandelion was taken with a Canon S70... all point and shoots.

Enjoyed your little quiz. You did fool me on this one, as your P&S shot was clearly the poorest of the bunch and I was sure you were trying to mislead us, as the others were clearly superior photographs. But it was worth $100 to someone!

Now a quiz for you PIXChuck (and others). Were these taken with a DSLR or a P&S?

DSLR or Point and Shoot?


DSLR or Point and Shoot?


DSLR or Point and Shoot?

Gotta admit there are a lot of things to learn about photography, but nothing like a 747 jet. Good exposure is directly related to aperture, shutter speed and ISO (sensor sensitivity). Not that complicated. OK, there are other considerations like noise, white balance, contrast, saturation, blown out whites, blocked in shadows, etc. as you learn more. Still not brain surgery. These are the relatively easy to learn and understand technical issues.

Hard part is related to aesthetics. Composition, depth of field, format are all subjective with widely varying points of view and preferences. This is where a knowledge of the history of photography is valuable, to be able to identify styles, current and past cliches' and classic approaches to photography.

Personally, I enjoy doing it the hard way. Accepting the limitations of the equipment you have, making the most of it, and using every resource you have to make a great image. That is where the fun is for me. (End of lecture)

Thanks. I have personally learned a tremendous lot from photographers on the net. And I do love to share my knowledge and experience. I try to learn new things every day. And I love what I do.

[/quote]Now the question begs are you a photographer, or a PhotoShopper.[/quote]

Sometimes I am a PhotoShopper.

Slightly Photoshoped

Because of digital, I will often shoot two or three hundred shots or more a day if I am on a photo trip. I too will throw many of them away. But the ones I do keep, I want to be a perfect as possible, (yes, I have an anal personality) so I edit them to my own personal standards. I get almost as much fun out of editing as I do out of shooting.

And to repeat. Photography, for me, is a synthesis of in-camera capture and post processing refinement to create what the artist saw in their mind's eye when taking the shot.

Cruiseship with Editing for Lens Corrections

I will bet that your horizons are not perfectly level to the degree that I require, even with that gizmo. I use the lines in my DSLR finder and can never get them perfect. Photoshop Ruler tool and Lens Correction filter to the rescue.

So, to ask the question again. Are you really satisfied with your SOOTC images?

Looking for that Perfectly Level Horizon