Very good question. Thanks for asking.

Here is the question: is a pre-set mode generated on the spot specifically for this scene or is a factory pre-set? If the latter, then how do you know if those settings apply to your scene? I wish someone can answer this.

Instead of figuring out what the camera is doing, just use the histogram or those blinking shadows and highlights to adjust the exposure. Even if you shoot in manual, you still look at the picture to determine what is right. Let the camera's computer do this instead. I do not know how you would use the EXIF data here. That is why I go to the histogram.

Good luck.

No global adjustment will fix this to your liking. I turned to Photoshop to make a number of local adjustments. I masked off the background to tone it done. I then made numerous local adjustments of brightness and warmth using Viveza. Finally, some vignetting helped focus the viewer on the kids.

This is a mere start. Others with a better knowledge of PS can make this look like a million dollars.

Digital photography is like film photography. The camera is only a starting point. The darkroom/computer is what really makes the picture.

Good luck.

Oleg is right. Time to learn how to use the histogram to bracket exposures. This is one of the most powerful features of digital cameras and far more useful than all those fancy exposure metering modes. Probably the best place to learn about how to do that on your camera is by opening the manual and reading away. Should take all of a minute.

Instead of or in addition to histograms, many cameras will warn you of shadows or highlights being off the scale by flashing black or white in the culprit areas. If white, dial down the exposure. If black, dial it up.

You may not see much of a difference in the camera's preview of the shot but you will see it in a good editing program. This approach is universal. Use it for everything, not just snow. As for the polarizer, you are right: sunny days with strong lighting only.

I looked at these two sights and stand by Oleg's and my advice. Thou shalt bracket. Moreover, the color balance is off. Check my advice to you regarding the Expodisc.

website.http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/exposing_snow.shtml[/quote]

More tips on to expose for snow: http://www.pixiq.com/article/how-to-exposure-for-snow[/quote]

Good luck and happy shooting.

Flash is definitely an option and a very good one at that. However, it will change the picture drastically. What makes these pictures interesting is the play on light: strong highlights jumping out of the shadows. The problem is the extreme range will be hard to adjust.

Flash would change the mood and intent dramatically. You would lose a lot of that interplay between light and dark. While the flash picture would be very nice, it would emphasize the cats and ignore the surroundings. Nothing wrong with that, just a different approach. I am not sure that a flash could tame those highlights. In any event, I would not use direct flash but bounce or diffused or, better yet, both with a tilt-head flash. I would not use the on-camera flash.

Whitewitch, I think you are out of luck on the first shot. You can fiddle all you want with the camera settings and plea with your cats to stand still, but you will never find a single exposure that will capture that dynamic range. It defies the laws of physics.

The only way you might save the first picture would be in Photoshop. You would need a lot of masking to adjust those extreme areas and I am not sure the file has enough information to make look natural. Perhaps someone with advanced experience with blending can come to your rescue.

The second picture is another story. I think it has real potential by adjusting the extremes to give an interesting picture. When films and papers with increased ranges came into being in the 30's, this style became possible.

HDR is certainly a way to go but not with kitty.

Good luck.

Here is the link: www.expoimaging.com/

It is a calibrated diffuse white filter that fits over the lens. You take a calibration picture and then set the custom white balance to that picture. Done (except for turning auto-focus off and on and if you are like I am, the "on" can be a challenge). As long as you keep the lighting the same, your white balance will be on the money. If you set it in the sun but grab a shot of someone in the shade, the balance may be different. No more fiddling post-processing. The camera pre-sets are "typical", whatever that means, and hence, unreliable.

More expensive than a gray card and more reliable than a white sheet of paper. Regular Plexiglas(r) is not pure white. They cost around $75 depending upon size. Look on eBay. If you have more than one lens, buy one for the largest and use it on the others.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more info.

As for chiropracters, they can be more expensive and less effective in the long run than a physician. Of all the medical specialties you can try, I would go to a physiatrist first. He or she has much better training than a chiropracter and better able to deal with such problems in a non-surgical way. By way of analogy, one is a dslr and the other is roll film camera.

I can relate to your problem and sympathize with you because of your young age.

Without going into the long and boring details, I recommend that you see a physiatrist, a physician specializing in non-surgical treatment of spinal and muscular problems. I told my guy that three surgeons wanted to operate and that I was too far gone for physical therapy. He smiled at me and said "You have not had physical therapy like we do it." He was right. I have now avoided surgery for over three years, a short time as life goes, and have pretty much a normal life.

As for drugs, I can understand your reluctance to take anything that would interfere with your normal functioning. I take Celebrex, non-narcotic pain killer, that has none of the side effects of muscle relaxants and some other pain killers. I do not believe in alternative remedies because most are really useless, have not had their safety determined, and strength and purity vary widely. They probably work because of the placebo effect. Their efficacy rests more on anecdote than science.

I make no bones about. I am a fan of main-stream medicine. I know a lot of people are not and believe passionately in alternatives. Unfortunately, most ultimately return to the main-stream having experienced the futility of the alternatives.

Good luck in your quest for a solution.

I bought my 60D from B&H in August. I have used them thru the years and had the usual excellent buying experience. I do not remember if they had a gray offering. I would think that buying white would avoid any hassles later. However, I have never had a warranty claim with anything from Canon.

I came from many, many years of film and the original Canon Digital Rebel. The 60D will blow you away. Excellent choice.

Good luck.

I would not shoot in manual. Let the camera do the work; that is why you bought it.

I do not have a Nikon but I presume it has controls like my Canon 60D. I use creative mode with either a fixed shutter speed or fixed aperture. The camera will set the other. This is the usual trade off between stopping the flames and depth of field. You can also change ISO to get both shutter speed and f-stop into a range you want. You decide which you prefer. You may want to check the histogram. You will have a lot of shadows but adjust the exposure to move the flames/highlights to the right.

As mentioned above, probably no flash. It wipes out the dramatic difference between the flames/highlights and the shadows. It also loses the reds of the flames. If you want that drama of the flames, shoot without the flash. Otherwise, use flash.

Good luck.

PS I am from the other Elk Grove: Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

I do not know if you intend to shoot from the stands or the floor. First rule for pictures like this: shoot from the floor. Walk around for interesting angles and to avoid obstructions such as people and equipment. Do not be bashful or you will miss shots.

I have a Canon 60D with a 18-200 mm lens and the fastest memory card. I shoot at 6400 and clean up the noise in post-processing. You may be able to shoot at a lower ISO but try to maintain a shutter speed of at least 1/200 or so. I shoot raw's in P mode, program AE. However, you can take jpg's in the fully automatic mode if you wish.

Now, for the overlooked settings. Set the AF to servo and drive mode to high speed continuous. You can now shoot burst of pictures as if you were using a movie camera. Hard to miss a good shot. You will go thru an awful lot of memory but you can cull out the bad shots later. I do not delete during a shoot because I may pitch something good. Have a second card in your pocket or start with an empty one.

These are the tools. The rest is up to you and as I said before, do not be bashful. Do not worry about getting in someone's way; get your pictures. Good luck and post the winners.

I recommend getting one with a tilt head and buying some kind of diffuser for it. For portraits and close-ups, I put the diffuser on and tilt the head up. This reduces the contrast and over-exposed highlights while giving some modeling.

Make sure that it has reasonable power. Do not skimp on the flash. You do not want to buy something that you are not satisfied with and then go out and buy the right one.

I use the factory default settings. Good enough until you have more experience. However, for white balance, I use an Expodisc. If possible, I look at the histogram to make sure that I have a full range of shadows and highlights. You can also look for blown out highlights. That is when the sky or other light colors are flashing. If so, reduce you exposure. The amount depends upon how blown out the highlights are. Avoid advice that says use this or that setting. The beauty of digital is that you have immediate feedback so the next shot can be perfect or close to it. Each picture has its own best settings. One size does not fit all. This is all about the camera.

The power of raw comes in post processing. If you want this level of control, shoot raw and process. Otherwise, stick with jpg's and enjoy your shooting. Your camera may have some software. I am sure there are plenty of programs out there to handle this without having to pop for the grand daddy of them all: Photoshop. I use Adobe Bridge with Adobe Camera Raw for cataloging and making preliminary adjustments to give what I call "proofs". For heavy duty editing, I go to Photoshop with a plug-in called Viveza.

The important thing is to determine how involved to get in all this. You have to be motivated to spend the time and money and you may or may not appreciate the results. But whichever way you go, enjoy doing it and the results you get.

The Expodisc eliminates correcting later on thus saving time and reducing uncertainty about the balance.

Google Expodisc for their site. Using it is easy once you get used to it. Turn off the auto-focus, cover the lens, shoot, turn the auto-focus back on (very important), go to the camera's menu to set the white balance, set the white balance to custom, select the last shot (the one with the Expodisc) and you are done. The camera has just figured how to capture white regardless of the kind of lighting and applies that color temperature and tint to all subsequent pictures. Two problems: remembering to turn auto-focus back on and if you change the lighting, your colors will be off of course. Works with flash too. The manufacture calibrates the disc so you know it is actually white.

I no longer tweak the white balance but will cheat a little by stepping up the vibrance or saturation. I like this for light skin tones. Gives them a little more life. Takes about a minute to use which is a lot less time than trying to figure out later what looks best.

You can buy them online or used on eBay. Buy one for your largest lens diameter so you can use it for all your lenses.