That's a hard question to answer because there are some many different lighting conditions that exist. One rule some people use is drop f-stop on lens about 2/3 and the EV on your flash about 1/3. That other I recommend is shoot many photos and change you lens f-stop and flash EV to see which one gives you the best photo.

Susan226, No you can't tell by resolution. Like photocat said look at the suffix of your file name and if it a RAW it will have .CR2 as the suffix. If was jpg it wll have a .jpg as the suffix of your file name. I hope this helps!

Katie,

The bottom line is that RAW files provide you with much more data to work with in the post processing of your photo. It is a lengthier process but worth it. The jpg are smaller than your RAW files. When first started in digital photography all shot in was jpg, but for the last 3 years I only been shooting in RAW and find much better. I recommend that you do some searches on the Internet for comparisons of jpg vs. RAW files. Below are couple of websites that are worth while looking at.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/u-raw-files.shtml

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm

Shanna,

Lightroom 3 has much better organizer than Elements or Photoshop and is made more for a photographer than a graphic artist.

Anthony,

I used Lightroom 3 (LR 3) to select my excellent photos that I will further process, print, or post on my website, to catalog my photos, add keywords, and put captions/titles on them. I have my own website, and that's important when I upload photos to it. I also use the keywords on LR 3 to find specific photos on my hard drives. LR 3 is where I do about 95% of my post processing. I also like it because of seamless connection to Photoshop and other plug-ins I currently use as part of my post processing. I have to give LR 3 an A rating for helping stream lining my workflow.

I purchased off of EBay with minimum amount of problems. You need to see what seller rating is, production description, there return policy, if the have Email and/or phone contact. If you have concern, send them an Email and ask them a question. If you use pay using PayPal, that is a good safeguard in case a problem arises because it's easy to get your money back. Also the above 3 suppliers people mentioned in this thread are very good to deal with. I have purchased product from all of them and I'm extremely happy with my transactions with them.

I would take look what is available on the Internet. Below are a few websites I found that may help you.

Video training training - http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/results?q=photographing%20children

http://www.digitalphotos101.com/photos-of-kids.htm

http://www.praneelofferblog.com/?p=2875

http://www.photographyblog.com/articles/how_to_take_natural_photos_of_
children/

You may want to go to your local library or bookstores to read about this subject.

If you have a local camera club, it may worth while joining it.

The main thing you need is a good tripod and a cable shutter release to keep your camera from moving. This will give you a sharp image.

Go to this website http://mtapesdesign.com/instant-jpeg-from-raw-utility/, download this program, and you should be able to convert your RAW files to jpg in a batch process.

If you able, look at an academic version of a software application. It is a lot cheaper. Also look at GIMP, it a free software, but not really sure if it can read RAW files. Their website is http://www.gimp.org. Also look on Ebay but be carefully that it is legitimate software.

Gregory,

Not knowing what your objective you want to convey with your photos it's hard for me to give you specific feedback on your photos. If it's for an artistic versus a documentary type photo, you capture and post processed the images different ways. I agree with the above comments from the other people about your photos. I think a good exercise is first try to state what you are trying to convey with your flower photos. You might want to read a book or search the Internet for flower photography. I do some flower photography. Refer to this link http://www.dubinphotography.net/Nature/Gardens to view some of my photos. If you like the technique I use, I will be more than happy to share it with you.

Hi all - I'm a newbie to Ugly Hedgehop and hope to learn new techniques from other members and share my knowledge with them too.

Carol,

If you don't having lenses for the DSLR you are buying, than it would be my recommendation to go to a local camera store and try them both out. Talk to other people who either use Nikon or Canon DSLR and see if they will let you take photos with them. Different camera bodies have a different feel when using them. If you have a local camera, go there and talk with them and try them out to see which one you like. You also should define what type of photos you are going to take, how much money you want to spend, and what type lens/es you will need. Really the lens type and the quality of the lens is the most important decision to make for getting good quality photos.

I'm a nature photographer and I use Nikon equipment and my friends have Canon equipment and their photos are just as good as mine. If you are interested you can view some of my photos, by going to this website http://www.dubinphotography.net.

I hope this helps,
ADubin

Steve,

I would look at buying a used lens off of eBay, Graig's List, B&H Photo, KEH, or from Adorama Camera. I did that for my Nikon 500mm f4 manual focus lens about 3 years ago and I'm very happy with it. You can go to this URL http://bitly.com/reQSpH to view some of my recent photos I took with this lens. BTW - purchased my lens from KEH.