[quote=vanderhala]

I just got back from 2 weeks in Botswana, our 4th safari there. Highly recommend overnight stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Joburg...literally right across a small street from the airport entrance. Great place to stay! As far as lenses, I took 2 camera bodies and a 70-200mm lens as well as a 500mm prime lens (wonderful for the many beautiful birds you'll see!) and used both quite a bit, as well as my iPhone 15 pro max (fantastic for video too...be sure to record the sounds of Africa, especially in the morning). Amazing place...you'll want to go back again and again and again! I'd never mess with a monopod...you can use the vehicle bars to stabilize yourself and camera. Make sure you take your charger and the appropriate adapter. Have a FANTASTIC TIME!!!

I've never played a video game on it, but got a Dell Alienware gaming computer a year ago and it is super-fast and powerful! A great decision for me! And I even got some extra credit "cool" points from my grandchildren because of the alien logo on it. Ha ha! Seriously, I know very little about computer stuff but this one has been great for PS and LRC. Just my 2 cents from a non-techy photographer....

What a fun idea...and great card! Merry Christmas to you too!

1. I haven't added music, but on the side panel toward the bottom there is an option to add music, so I know you can.
2. At the bottom of the slide show (right corner on my screen) it tells how many slides and how many minutes it will take. You can adjust how long each slide is showing on the side panel.
3. I don't know how you can tell until after you Export it??? There's probably a way but I don't know it....

I just made a slide show of 109 images on the Lightroom module. Easily exported to a USB drive as a video file if you want, but I also copied it onto my laptop. I can easily mirror my laptop screen to the smart TV (using settings on the laptop, which will "find" the TV) and then whatever is on my laptop screen is on the TV. That was the easiest to do, since your photos are already in Lightroom and you can use those high resolution photos. Play the slide show on your laptop and it also shows up on your TV screen. It was easy to do, even for this tech-challenged gal (me!)!

Yes, I know them and have used them a lot and have had great experiences with them. They were the first place I checked, but no, no z8 for rental. Shucks! Thanks anyway!

I love Roberts! But didn’t know they rented equipment???

Looking to try out a Nikon z8 camera...looking for reputable camera rental companies that will ship to my home in Indiana. My regular rental place doesn't have a z8 available. Suggestions???

What a "lucky" shot! Perfect lighting to show the silhouette of the fish in the pelican's mouth! I love pelicans too!

I've been to Kenya many times...what a treat you have in store! My advice would be to stick with the camera and lens you are familiar with. For almost everything (except perhaps some birds), your 500m will be plenty of reach. If you have another camera body, you might want to bring it and also a closer range lens, like the 24-70m. Many times the animals will be quite close, too close for the 150. Check to see if your tour provider has beanbags for support, they are very helpful to stabilize your cameras.

Enjoy your trip! I know you'll bring back some great images and fantastic memories!

Great analysis! Ha ha!

Welcome! You are from my neck of the woods...I was also born at New Castle, Indiana, grew up in Hagerstown, and now I'm living in a cabin in rural Henry County! :) Never moved too far away from home...haha! I also love photography and have learned a lot on this forum. Glad to have another Hoosier girl on here! :)

We just did a northern lights trip to Churchill, Manitoba in February. It was FANTASTIC despite the bitter cold! A couple of suggestions...rent a wide angle lens...10-12 mm would be good since you are using the D500 which is a crop sensor camera (I have and used the same camera for my aurora photos). You'll be amazed at how BIG that night sky is! :) And get a headlamp with red light to use when setting up your tripod/camera. The red light does not mess with your night vision (and others' around you) like a regular white light does, and the headlamp keeps your hands free. Looks like you're on target with your clothing layers. It was a dream come true for me (a 65-year-old woman), and will be for you too! ENJOY!!! If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer...just send me a private message through this UHH website.

It makes photos look really weird when background faces are sharp but rest of background is blurry. Lol!

Throwing my two cents out for consideration...I shoot lots of sports as well and in general love Photo AI. But I find unless I select faces, it sometimes does weird things with faces in the background (on gym bleachers, for example)...faces I don't really want in focus. So be aware of that. You can turn the face detection off in Photo AI and I usually do that when processing images with spectators in the background. Or take the time to select the faces you want AI to work on.