I have also had a Nikon D7000 for about 6-8 months. I went to uscollegebuy.com and picked a copy of CS5 and Lightroom 3 for about $270.00 You MUST, however, be either a student or teacher to qualify. You must be able to prove you are a student. I understand Adobe also offers student editions. These programs are working just fine for me. I have been able to do SO much with these programs. They are legitimate Adobe products and perfectly suited for what I'm doing now. Hope you are able to work this out.

I paid about $270.00 for both Lightroom 3 and CS5. his is NOT a free download OR a 30 day trial. uscollegebuy.com

If you just google camera settings you can fine tune what the info is that you are looking for. Put it in question form. You can also "Ask Jeeves" or go to ITunes U in the Itunes store for free classes from different colleges on almost any subject. I have gotten quite a bit of instruction from iTunes.

I have to agree with everyone that it's the photographer & not necessarily the camera. For me, I was ready for an upgrade My images that I shoot with the D7000 are more even in exposure and require much less tweaking and editing. And I have also been taking classes for about 20 years off and on, at my community college. I have found also that going to museums and viewing art of ALL kinds has given me much better composition and much better images overall. Classes are inexpensive and taught by working professionals. Your local Parks & Rec department in your city may also offer some classes. Ours does here in Long Beach. Enjoy!

I think that if you can afford it DO IT. I have a D80 and upgraded my Nikon to a Nikon D7000. BEST thing I've ever done. My images are 100% crisper, more colorful, sharper, and require less correction. The difference in exposures are like night and day. You can see my images on Flickr under LBJude. My images are so much better. Good luck. Do your research to find the best camera for your level of expertise. BUT pick one up that you can grow with and not have to upgrade for awhile. Also, I would recommend NOT buying a kit which includes lenses as those lenses are generally inferior and definitely not great quality. Buy the body only and get a 55mm-300mm lens with auto focus and vibration reduction. Fixed lenses are generally faster and sharper. I use my 55mm-300mm Nikon lens for everything. I have used my 18mm- 55mm lens only sporadically. I pop it onto the camera sometimes and end up just switching back to my zoom. It is more versatile. Good luck.

Amazon.com is always a good source. While I try to support my local camera shop, I'm not above buying from Amazon. For a DSLR look into circular polarizing, skylight and/or a graduated filter. The thing about any filter is quality. You can ruin a great image with cheap glass just as much as really hit it out of the ballpark with good glass. Sometimes you just have to put out the money for quality items in order to bump up your quality.

Hi Chuck, nice attempts. I prefer the first one over the second as it looks more natural. When I looked at 2nd image, it struck me that her head looks uncomfortably and unnaturally twisted. I like your tonal range and you also did a nice job with lighting. If you don't know how to shoot portraits it can be glaringly obvious. Each person's facial structure reacts differently when shooting with flash so you really know how to light it. Women have different problems that come to "light" than men. So you need to know your lighting so you don't create an elongated nose or double chin, for example. I like where your going with this. Just remember: SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT! The more you shoot, the better you'll get and find your "vision." Also, I highly recommend visiting museums and Artist websites to see how others are interpreting portraits. I think you are DEFINITELY on the right track and are off to a very good start. For me, I learn SO much by viewing other people's work. Since I've been hitting LACMA, the Getty and voraciously viewing others work, my imagery has improved tenfold. Keep it up. Experiment. Think OUTSIDE the box, as they say. The more unique your vision, the better you will become and the more interested people will be to hire you.

Marcia
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I have researched this a bit, reading articles and attending a lecture or 2 on Digital Infrared imaging. What I have learned is that you need to have your camera converted to just shoot infrared, as true infrared is not yet possible digitally. I plan on sending my Nikon D80 to a company that does conversions since I bought my Nikon D7000 about 6-8 months ago and have been using that camera exclusively. I can't remember the company name but I'll check my sources. Both the lectures I've attended and articles I've read say concerning digital infrared capture you really need a conversion, and preferably with a full-frame sensor camera. Good luck! I would lke to hear other folk's ideas and experiences.

Love this shot! Am very interested in photographing buildings that have character. Nice tone and the image is crisp.

Thank you SO much! (Love your User name!) :twisted:

I agree, the third image is beautiful. Image is crisp, sharp with excellent matching expressions. VERY nice.

Yay!!!! I was able to upload. Feedback MOST welcome!

OK here we go Hopefully these will load and you can see some of my work!

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