Just an unrelated note: in a pinch and quick need, I fashioned a white styrofoam coffee cup over an external flash with a rubber band. Worked fine.

You folks are great....a wealth of valuable information and help! So far, I have availed myself of one Julianne Kost video and have signed up for the free on the web three day Creative Live seminar to be on the 14th, 15th and 16th. I am considering the purchase of the Nat Coalson book from Amazon.

I looks as though the only things preventing me from learning Lightroom 4 is my own mental limitations and available time. There are literally tons of Lightroom learning resources available, but I would not have been able to find many of them without your help.

Thanks to all.
Dan

Yes, Windows 7. The Tab key is key. Didn't know that. Makes all the difference. Light at the end of the Lightroom tunnel. It's beginning to make some sense,now.

Dan

No keywords yet. Watched a couple of beginner videos. Sloooooowly but surely, it is starting to make a little sense. Lightroom seems to use different logic with some of its organizational structure and command sequences.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. It all helps.
Dan

I need some help desperately. I just purchased and installed Lightroom 4. I have no previous experience with previous versions, but I had heard so many great remarks about Lightroom that I decided to check it out. Well, to make a very long story short, I have completely screwed it up. I fancied myself as being able to just wade right in and accomplish great things, but I have gotten to the point that I can't even find my own photographs, which number over 20,000 on my computer. I have two external hard drives and keep most of the photos there, but my ineptitude with the software has completely screwed the software up and now I don't seem to know where anything is located, nor how to access it.

With hat in hand plus a plate full of crow before me, I need help. I think I need to undo all that I have attempted and then start over with amends to Lightroom.

Please...... what should I do and where should I turn?
Dan

Hey Mister Wilson - Saw your post. I am from northeast Georgia, just across the line from SC. We're neighbors.

Thanks to all for the feedback. Will read, try to understand and consider what is best for me to do. It appears some training is in the offing.

Dan

I know that beauty and art are both in the eyes of the beholder. However, I seem to always be on the outside looking in at others versions of photo clarity, sharpness, color rendition, etc. Perhaps it is my lack of astute color vision, my lack of appreciation for the photo's attributes or just my lack of knowledge as to what makes a photo acceptable. I have used several versions of post processing software, but I usually cannot quite figure out what I need to do to make a photo more acceptable.

Further, I have subscribed to PopPhoto for several years and find that I usually cannot tell the difference between the before and after versions of photos that they "fix" trying to illustrate some particular point of photo creativity.

Is there some sort of training or perhaps videos available that would enable me to better understand the intricacies of photo appreciation and manipulation?

ANY response would be appreciated.
Dan

Thanks all for the info. I did not realize that the on-camera flash was weakened and that caused the off-camera flash to fire. I feel better now.
Dan

My 60D may have a mind of its own. Either that or there is a problem with its wireless flash or its operator's knowledge (mine). The problem is:

I set up the wireless flash per page 139 in the instruction manual. When set up that way, my understanding is that only the external flash should fire. However, as it turns out, both the flip up flash and external fire simultaneously. Should they both fire? The flash is a Metz 48-AF1, but I don't think that should have any bearing on this matter. I followed the instructions exactly as per the manual.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to why this double flash occurs, if it is operator error or perhaps an issue with the 60D?

I collect Minolta equipment. Have over 90 cameras and don't know how many lenses. What cameras and lenses do you have?
Also, do you have asking prices for them?
Dan

Try McKeown's, the Bible of camera values. It's a little out of date since the last update. I collect older cameras (over 90 right now). The last P3 that I purchased was in 2008. I paid $10.96 for the body only on Ebay. Camera works fine.

Dan

That would be my sigma 17-70 macro. New walk around lens.

Finished product looks pretty good. Any comments would be appreciated.
Dan

Just a Dandelion

I use two external hard drives, one is 1.5 TB and the other is 2.0 TB. I copy all my photos onto both of them. Several times a year I also copy my most recent ones, the ones that I value highest, anyway, to a DVD and retain them all.

Can't be too careful. I can't count the number of times that I have had to go back 10 years or more looking for a shot. This is a product of the digital age, I guess. I used to save negatives, but file retention was a real problem. Digital has changed all that.

Why are you not considering the Sigma 10-20 or Tamron 10-24. They are not super expensive. I have used both and they meet all my needs. My son also uses the Sigma in the real estate business taking wide angles of the inside and outside of properties. Works great as he uses it for HDR as well.
Dan