Both great shots. Too bad the water in each wasn't perfectly calm.

I like that composition.

When I first got my Nikon DSLR, upgrading from my P & S, I made a conscientious effort to go through the manual, over several days (not finished yet) and learn at least one or two new functions of the camera each time. Helped me.

If you take any classes at a college, junior, community, or whatever, even as a "continuing ed., or lifetime learner," you qualify for a discount from StudentDiscounts.com. You'll have to send them proof, like registration docs & stuff.
So you don't have to borrow or steal a student.

I know - I haven't heard anyone mention MS at all ! I learned "MS Picture-it" it is older than the "Digital Image Pro" I bought "Dig Pro" in 2003 and was aggravated because they had taken out some of the easy fixes that were in the original -- it seems to me that the makes of Image software thing if they make it more complicated people will think it is better.
I have PS7 and now 10 is out.. I can get CS5 at student price (daughter in college) but it has a learning curve- Maybe this winter when I will be trapped inside by snow.
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I had an earlier version of DIP, too. The new one changed a few things, too. Instead of "Sharpen" they call it "Unsharp Mask". Why would they call it that.

BYW- I would love to see more of your Alaska photos.[/quote]

Wow! I'm flattered. I have an Alaska section on my SmugMug site...
HLippe.smugmug.com
Thanks for the compliment.

I just looked at Topaz Adjust. I will buy it, but it's not in my budget right now. Nice stuff.

OK, this is not the US but I thought I'd throw it in since some of the pictures here reminded me of it.

Abandoned Gold Mine - Aruba 2k9 3


Abandoned Gold Mine - Aruba 2k9 2

I was there last summer (2010) didn't see that one. My wife loved the one mansion we did see.

Is that an aquatint effect you applied?

That's funny. I use Digital Image Pro, a paid grandchild of Picture It! neither one of which Microsoft supports anymore.
for Automatic changes to the image, I click on "Levels Auto Fix." Most of the time it really does the job or is, at least, a good starting point.
Many people in this forum use all sorts of programs including Adobe stuff. I have PS 7 and now I use it only to get to the ReDyanimix filter.
No one else has admitted to using a Microsoft product.
:wink:

Sorry, I didn't notice the caption above the picture the first time I saw it.

Good pix.

The bottom one looks like abandoned military barracks. I've seen some like that at Floyd Bennett Field, in Brooklyn, or is that Queens.

Kind of like the original but more defined. A cross between yours and the one I did above your post. The one above yours I used the ReDynamix plug in for PS 7. Someone suggested it and boy am I happy with that.
What software do you use?

It was in Juneau, on a whale watch, this past July. We were EXTREMELY LUCKY. We saw about 21 whales (somebody counted) and were lucky enough to see several sequences of bubble-netting, which that picture is part of. Apparently, whales do not like the sun, so we were lucky it was overcast.

Wish I had my new camera then. I have 55-300 mm tele. That whale fluke would have been right in front of me.

She wouldn't be a little girl anymore, she'd be about 50 + years old, unless she's a ghost. :D

OK, now I see how adding more than 3 pix is done.