I find the same percentage of people who believe the moon landing was faked is the same percentage that believe the earth is flat and that WWF wrestling is real...

If you never read it, you should

I own the ball head made by Really Right Stuff paired with their L bracket. Pretty expensive set up but worth every penny.

Seems to be a common problem. Farmers did the same thing to me, they overnighted a check but forgot to put the check in the envelope. Had to over night another one the next day. No wonder why my premiums are so high

Most every animal that is alive in Ausie is trying to kill you..

That's a speckled king snake. They are very docile. I've handled many different species and never been bit. Good snakes to have around...

I have the 24-120mm Nikon lens and it a very sharp lens. I have compared it to my 24-70mm and my 70-200mm and there is very little difference in the sharpness. Great lens, look for it used on sites like B&H, it usually sells for around $700 vs the $1100 new.

Yes, I would bet that is exaclty what is going on. I once sent in a camera because it kept changing exposures on every shot even though I hadn't moved. Nikon sent it back with instructions on how to turn exposure bracketing on and off. Duh..

Here's the link pictures are free


https://stock.adobe.com/search/free?filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aphoto%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aillustration%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Azip_vector%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Avideo%5D=0&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Atemplate%5D=0&filters%5Bcontent_type%3A3d%5D=0&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aaudio%5D=0&filters%5Binclude_stock_enterprise%5D=0&filters%5Bfree_collection%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aimage%5D=1&filters%5Border%5D=relevance&k=bird&order=relevance&safe_search=1&search_type=asset-type-change&search_page=1&get_facets=0

I have been using Topaz Denoise and the sharpen program for a couple of years now. I am amazed on the difference in the sharpness just using Denoise alone and would highly recommend the program.
However, I am using the Nikon 850 (47 mg). I recently pulled out one of my older camera's, a Nikon D7000 (24 mg, crop sensor) and I noticed that the Topaz programs do not work nearly as well as with the D850 pictures. Most of the really noisy pictures from the D7000 showed little or no improvements when using Topaz. I can only assume it has to do with the amount of megapixels so depending on which camera you are using, the results may vary..

I agree. I currently own the D850, which is a phenomenal camera. Nikon's mirrorless equivalent is the Z9. Except for a few minor improvements the camera has all the same specs as the 850, except they very stupidly added a built in motor drive which increases the size and weight of the camera considerably. And it's certainly not worth the $5300 price tag! Nope, plan on keeping the 850 for quite a while..

I agree!! I have one for my D850 and my very heavy 70-200mm lens. The large knob allows you to crank the head down rock solid with no drift. Pairs nicely with their "L" bracket. The only cons are the weight (not terribly heavy) and the price. But it's a good investment.

Nice. Looks like your white balance is somewhere around 4200 or so, which is a more natural look. I have always dialed mine back (in camera or in Raw) to around 3000 for more of a blue sky look. Stars are pretty sharp but I found that Topaz Denoize program works wonders for shots like this. It will remove the noise and sharpen the image all at once. You can download a free 30 day trial to try it out. Foreground is blurry which is what happens with a 2.8 aperature, not much you can do except come back later when you have some moonlight out and reshoot the picture this time for the foreground only and the combine in photoshop. Good time of year to shoot, I alway like when the milky way lays flat on the horizon.

Another great program out there is called Stellarium (http://stellarium.org/). You can add coordinates from Google Earth and it wil show you what the sky will look like any place in the world at any day or time. It's usefull if you know an area already, just go to Google earth to get the coordinates (Long/Lat) and enter them. Put in the date and it will show you the night sky, most importantly, the position of the milky way. Very useful for planning a trip.

Ad for Entanmann's Donuts : We put the lard in lard ass"

Or so I was told...

I am currently having a problem with one of the recievers for Direct TV, it just stopped working for no apparent reason. I contacted Direct TV, explained to them that the receiver has power but will not come on. They offered to replace it for free, but I had to pay $20.00 for shipping. It didn't go too well after that! The first question that came to mind is "Why would I pay for shipping on a piece of equipment that belongs to Direct TV?" And, Direct TV has been charging me $5.00 per month to rent this receiver (for the last 19 years!), which adds up to over $1100.00 but apparently that was not enough profit for them and now they are asking for another $20.00?

I balked at the whole idea and told them just to cancel my subscription. I was immediately transferred to another person who opted to "waive" the shipping costs. But this doesn't take in account that the reciever will be sent to me in two to five buisness days, so in the mean time, no Direct TV in my bedroom. No compensation offered for that..

This whole scenerio is just wrong. Direct TV is loosing their butts to companies like Netflix, Apple TV, and Hulu. You would think they would treat their customers a little better. The more I think about it, I just might dump these guys and find someone who will offer some better service..