if you can use a cs4 program use the mask technique. set your and your copy as the second layer. use gaussian blur for the second picture then erase the horse (which erases the blur and then the horse is sharp and the baclground is barely reacognizeable and blurry.) that should get you waht you are looking for. You can play with the degree of blur too. just a thought.

this is great info, thanks for sharing

You can shoot these pictures without a filter, just remeber to find your setting in manual mode, bracket and you will get the right shot. This is suppossed to be fun, and relaxing. good luck.

what editing software does your camera have that your computer does not? I am sure most software fan fix what your camera can. Picasa 3 is a decent free download. at least this way your pictures wouldn't be lost forever.

the healing brush should work easiest. this tool takes into account the colors surrounding the area to be changed and matches things up nicely.

It sounds like your focus selection is incorrect. you should have several choices of how you want your camera to read information and then focus on it. most cameras allow you to select your focus area from a single option to multiple. check your instructin manual. that should help. Are you shooting in Manual or program. that will have some bearing on your images too.

It is hard to tell someone which lens to get. You need to know what you requier in a lens according to what you like to shoot. some type of some lens is handy and gives you a variety of distance/focal lengths to use without having to swap out lenses. If you like a lot of landscape, a wide angle works better. if you like macro pictures then you are going to want lower aperture capabilities and not so much distance. think about what you like to shoot the most for now and then decide. Personally I like to be able to have an assortment of lengths so I went with a tameron 18mm to 200mm and I have had this since mar and I am just now comming to see all the benefits and limitations of this lens and I am thinking about what I want my next lens to do.
I would suggest going general and figure out what you want to do, then when the time is right, find the next lens to fit that. good luck

I bought a Sony A390 this past winter and love it. It uses A mount lenses so there is a variety to choose from. tameron has lenses that work and I bought a 18mm to 200mm lens and that is pretty much all I use. Gets the images that I want and need. i don't know if your aware, but Sony bought out Minolta, theymake the sensors for Nikon and have won camera of the year for the last two years for their 500 series. Their cameras run a bit cheaper but with the same good quality. Something to consider as they are becomming a condetender quickly. just food for thought.

aperture and shutter speed work together. when you want crispe clear shots you have the aperture wide open ( low number 2.4f) and a fast shutter speed . when you want to adjust for action shots, if you want to show stopped action, this setting range will work for that. If youwant to show action with blurs or, in the case of waterfalls, you need the motion to come across the sensor (that is what causes the blur or cotton candy effect) then you need to decrease the amount of light through the aperture setting and make up for with the shutter speed and of course because you will have the shutter open longer, you want a tripod. A good rule of thumb is to bracket your settings to make sure you get the image you want, so change your aperture up and down and then do the same with your shutter speed. Metadata will let you see what your settings were for your favorite image. Good luck and I looke forward to seeing your images.

I bought a sony this year, entry level, and I love it. I didn't know what HDR was all about so that never played into my decision, but I think it will when the time comes to upgrade. beautifull pictures. Great examples of why you may want to have HDR in your camera.

I am currently enrolled in school for photography. I am hoping by joining this group I will be able to get some good feedback and critiques on images to help improve myself as a photographer. I look forward to shareing my images with everyone and if interested, giving input that would help you too.

I am new to this site also. it is funny you bought the tameron lens becuase I have a 18mm - 200mm. bought mine jsut as yours was hitting the market and didn't wait, but I love my lens. It allows me to get almost everywhere I could want to get to as far as getting closer goes.