Ok guys I took about 400 pictures this weekend in NM. Got lots of stuff I like and my GF tweaked on some in PS on the road home. I am not familiar with PS yet so it may be a little bit before I get them all ready for posting. I will tell you that I got several neat panoramas and lots of flowers and a couple of waterfalls....

And you managed to slow the shutter down on a few waterfall shots and blur the water...:)

Actually yes I did Dave. It took a climb that mom and GF claimed was impossible to get down below one falls but I did it. :D


Never doubt an Eagle Scout...

http://picasaweb.google.com/Johnsonsl944/NewMexico09?authkey=Gv1sRgCP-U7cHT9qr0VA#

Ok there are 64 pictures of the ~400. The first 41 are edited the last 23 are straight out of the camera

Suggestion: Find a pro camera rental house nearby (maybe a reg. camera shop) and rent one of their recommended lenses for a weekend. Take a variety of test photos, then compare with the ones taken with your lens. I think you'll see quite a bit of difference.

A less expensive, but more arms-distance approach is to peruse some of the pro camera sites on the internet, either some prof. photog. websites or manufacturer's websites.

Sherwood

I would love to try some different lenses and I know I need better ones. I need more zoom and better macro and I would like some Wide angle.


IDK if there are any camera rental places in OK. I only know of one big camera store in the state.

Here's another method. Got a photo buddy with same brand, but better equipment? Offer to rent one of his selected lens for a couple of hours, days, etc. If you're trustworthy and responsible, he might enjoy a steak dinner or a couple of movie tics in exchange.

Sherwood

I pointed him to online rentals via FaceBook.

Borrowing from friends works too.

http://www.borrowlenses.com/

Ya I am looking at renting some stuff from those guys on my next trip.
I wish I had friends like you guys that had cool camera gear. Not many people around here get into DSLRs.

It's even better to have a dad that has good equipment. All rentals are free :).

He's even offered to let me borrow his camera bodies (D300 and a D2x), but I like the challenge of my older D100.

Dad says I can use all of his AE-1 stuff....


Shame the lenses aren't compatible.

If you want an inexpensive but decent lens that'll give you up to 300mm of focal length and a half-size macro mode, <$200 on Amazon. I've got one and did a bunch of research ahead of time for my limited budget it was a good lens.

Also, again, don't forget the 50mm f/1.8 for $120

And yes, you'll want a lens that goes down to something in the 15-20mm range for wide-angle work. There are several 17-XX lenses out there that are great or for the budget minded, the old 18-55 kit lens. It's not great, but not bad either and should be really cheap, especially if you buy from someone who's not using it because they've upgraded.

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-70-300mm-4-5-6-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B000ALLMI8

It took me a while to go through the pics you posted. There's some really nice stuff in there. I think most/all of the shots would benefit from changing the white balance. Most of your shots lack much warmth/are blueish. My guess is that white balance set to cloud or shadow would fix that. I don't know if you've got the Canon software, but I like the Canon Digital Photo Professional for some of my initial post processing (for RAW images only).

I think some of the blue issue is in picassa. it seems to do that to them. I have been working on correcting some of them in PS but I just haven't had time and now I have a pounding headache and just can't get motivated to work on them.

The bluish tint could just be a matter of the color temperature during mid-day (around 6500º Kelvin), and assuming the camera was set on Auto white balance. The tint can be easily color corrected in Photoshop.

Take a picture of a human, close up, so we can see details in hair, eyes, etc. Pets are fine too, but sometimes don't hold still.

A former professor's words always stuck with me: "When you take a photo, make it interesting" (via subject matter, composition, lighting, color or lack thereof, contrast, etc.)

Sherwood

Photography can be a fun hobby. It can get very expensive if you get the bug real bad. The Rebel is a good starter camera. Digital is a lot easier to shoot that the olden days of color transparencies. You will need to learn PhotoShop as much as photography. The full version of PhotoShop cost more than you probably spent on your camera.

The main thing I can recommend right now is to start a logical filing system for your photos. The photos add up fast. Build a good filing system and stick to it, don't just dump it all in "my documents." Enjoy your new toy!

Fortunately if you're a student or you have access to a student, you can buy PS with a student discount. The last time I looked that meant about 50-75% off the normal price.

Yea, and then you will want Lightroom 2.2 to help sort things. Then a external hard drive to back things up. It is a slippery slope. Just like cars or girl friends :)

An older version of PS is more than most people will need, ever. There's always PS Elements, are more limited version of PS. There are also other products, some are freeware or shareware like IrfanView. More here:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=PWH&ei=nvtxSoTrGY_uswOc683HCA&sa=X& oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=photo+editing+s oftware+free&spell=1

But let's not rely too much on software to replace basic photography skills.

Sherwood

Correct. One thing to note RE: "older version of PS". Since he's shooting in RAW, he can't go too old because RAW support for his camera doesn't go way back. I think CS1 or CS2 is probably the first that supports the XTi.