You go ahead and think on it but the challenge has been made and I like it, I think I know where I can get an empty whisky bottle and although I was supposed to choose the background I think the LDS Temple would make a stark contrast (yes, I am a devout Mormon). You will have to give me a few days to put it together because the Temple is in downtown Salt Lake City and that is about 40 miles away and I work 12 hour shifts most of next week but I love the idea of the statment it could make. The game is Afoot!!

OK, let me make it easy for you; pick something totally off the wall as a subject, make it about the size of a gallon container or smaller, A rock, a smashed can, some toy at the dollar store, an old ball, a used candle, a cow pie - the sky is the limit. Make it something that you imagin that I could never make a nice shot out of. As I said before the only thing I request is that you refrain from dead animals or rotting meat. Give it some thought for a few days, ask your wife, you need not answer right away.

I guess you're not understanding the challenge. If I put the focusing distance at 3' with an apreture of f22 and ISO 100 and then place my camera 5 inches off of the ground with my lense set at 17mm my depth of field will be from 10 inches to infinity. I will have two subjects, one near the camera lens very near to the ground (if not on the ground) and one in the distant background. I will select the distant background depending on what you choose as the object of interest on the ground near the lens. Don't worry about framing the shot, framing the shot is the challenge I must meet; just send me on a scavenger hunt looking for something of your choosing to use as the subject of interest near the lens and then, if I can find what you ask for then I will proceed to seek the best view I can to frame the shot in an interesting manner; that will most likely mean moving the object from where I find it to another location and setting up the whole shot. I would consider it a fun and interesting challenge.

So True! I too love a good wide angle shot; it never ceases to amaze me how the mind’s eye can look at a wide angle photo and tune out the fact that the shot is a compressed scene.

I love shooting wide angles close to the ground with a foreground subject expanding into a background subject having sharp front to back focus. I just got my new Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8D last week so I have nothing show worthy yet, I am still learning, but I have seen it done and the results are amazing. I'll post something for your consideration as soon as I get something I especially like.

Cameras will come and cameras will go but good glass will serve you well for generations if taken care of. I am of the mind that getting the best and growing into it will be the most satisfying, efficient and cost effective method in the long run.

I understand that many times a person's budget does not allow for a $1400 to $2000 lens but brands like Sigma, Tameron, and others are up and coming and should be looked into. I think Nikkor is shooting itself in the foot with their competition by pricing themselves so high because it will not be long before the only real difference is the bragging rights. I'm going pro so Nikon lenses are the only ones I currently buy ($$ouch$$) but my lenses usefulness will outlast me. I have heard excellent reviews on other brands so I will not downplay them and would not hesitate to recommend that a person look seriously at them. For me if you buy cheap you will learn cheap and upgrading will require you to unlearn a few things and bad habits are hard to break.

My advice for someone not looking to go pro but wants to take excellent pictures is to first decide what you want to take pictures of the most and get a good lens for that purpose. Keep the zoom range narrow, I personally do not like lenses that cover the 18mm - 300mm range but for someone who wants a single good lens for a lifetime of general shooting this may be the lens for you (provided you bite the bullet and get the best one on the market) but I know of no working professionals who routinely use one.

The best general purpose lens out there is the 50mm f/1.4 because the human eye (loosely speaking) is a 50mm lens, there have been very well known pros before the digital age that never used anything else but a 50mm lens.

If you're serious about photography, even as a hobbyist or the family snapshooter who wants to be a cut above, save, save, save and get the best lenses, you will not regret it because they will perform well and hold their resale values far better than a cheap lens.