I have the Manfrotto 488RC2 Ball Head and it's great. the 486 is ok and would still work flawlessly. What tripod do you have? Don't cheap out the tripod.

7/9/2008 9:11:19 AM

I just found a manfrotto 3001 Pro, used for $30.

7/9/2008 3:45:27 PM

You'll kick yourself if you cheap out on the tripod.

Definitely go with a quick release system. The only tough decision for me was ball head or three way. I ended up with the three way.

7/9/2008 3:55:44 PM

I have the Manfrotto 3021Pro tripod that pairs with my ball head and it's an absolute great combo after reading reviews about them. Very stable, strong and can support heavy loads. The cool thing about it is to change the direction of the column and doubles as a studio tripod. It's a bit heavy at about 4-5lbs but I find that a benefit in some situations. Probably the best tripod money can buy for that price range, short of going insane and spending 300+ on a carbon fiber or graphite one.

Although, my graphite monopod was 300 and that sucker is awesome.

7/9/2008 8:46:24 PM

http://pictopia.com/perl/gal?process=gallery&gallery_id=0&provider_id=352&ptp_photo_id=ptl:ap:xt-mt-38-2973416

sweet fireworks shot, my guess is from the iwo jima memorial



[Edited on July 12, 2008 at 1:26 AM. Reason : .]

7/12/2008 1:24:23 AM

Some recent shots:




Obligatory 4th of July fireworks shot:

7/13/2008 2:49:01 PM

christine as much as we don't get along I do have to say I enjoy your photos. And if you feel like being nice what sort of setting did you use to capture that last pic or is that a product of some photoshop help?

I got some firework pics I'm proud of, sadly there was a tree on the bottom that I had to capture but I like em. Hopefully I can post them soon.

7/13/2008 3:35:55 PM

Ill go ahead and apologize for this post since its been mentioned before and theres no clear answer, but....Im looking to get a dlsr and have narrowed it down to (all with 18-55 kit lens):

a)canon rebel xt (470-ish)
b)canon rebel xti (630)
c)nikon d40 + the 55-200 lens (600)
d)nikon d60 (630)

I know that on the surface the d40 seems like the best deal but I just wasnt crazy about how it sat in my hands so im hesitant. Also, I figure Ill have this for a while and should get the one I like. I know I like the xti in my hands but havent felt the d60 yet.

Suggestions given the prices?

7/13/2008 5:29:02 PM

^canon rebel XSi

but seriously, most photo magazines that i've seen have called it the best camera at it's level, but i guess it's considered one step up from these.

[Edited on July 13, 2008 at 5:50 PM. Reason : fdsfd]

7/13/2008 5:49:19 PM

7/13/2008 6:50:15 PM

Got lucky today flew right to me

7/14/2008 9:10:36 PM

god I can't wait til I get back down to coral gables, all kinds of birds just chill on the walkways and stuff.

7/14/2008 9:13:08 PM

Yo Senez, I really dig that through-the-viewfinder shot. That's hot.

7/14/2008 9:47:04 PM

Thanks...I wasn't sure it would come out when I took it but was pleasantly surprised.

7/14/2008 9:48:49 PM

7/15/2008 4:31:48 PM

Hey, I know that girl at the top.

7/15/2008 4:33:34 PM

I might be getting my photo studio earlier than I had expected. Big enough to do car photography. Now I just need to figure out how much new lighting equipment I need. This is gonna be expensive.

7/15/2008 4:46:10 PM

Quick HDR shot this afternoon, after some minor tweaking. Mostly a little saturation boost.



Same shot, different tweaks...

7/15/2008 8:21:18 PM

i'm not a fan of the very upper left corner in that photo, at all.

but the rest seems cool

[Edited on July 15, 2008 at 8:35 PM. Reason : hfds]

7/15/2008 8:35:04 PM

yeah, you can thank photomatix for that. i couldn't get the tone mapping to work out where the sky looked normal and the rest looked good. i figured 85% good is better than 15% good.

played with it some more and finally got something



[Edited on July 15, 2008 at 9:00 PM. Reason : ]

7/15/2008 8:43:08 PM

much better!

7/15/2008 9:58:43 PM

eastern mud snake


bird-voiced treefrog


cope's grey treefrog


red phase eastern garter snake


[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 12:13 AM. Reason : .]

7/17/2008 12:13:18 AM

here are some i just took


these are pretty noisy, had to use a high ISO






wasn't ready for this, wish i'd gotten his whole mouth



depth of field test of sorts with my new 50mm 1.4

7/17/2008 4:39:59 AM

^ good call going with the 1.4 over the 1.8.... you'll be glad you did

7/17/2008 6:24:16 AM

I finally caved in and bought the XTi over the D60. I really liked the D60 in my hand, but, once I turned it on it was all Canon. I was already somewhat familiar with the interface and the autofocus sold me. The 3 points on the Nikon seemed really limited and Id like to shoot a lot of Rugby.

The first picture is totally dicking around. And a total joke. I just wanted to snap a myspace shot and play around with the colors.

The second picture looks so dusty because I havent touched that table in a good week

7/19/2008 4:54:52 AM

Can you tell that I photoshopped away most of his eye lashes in the center of his face?

(at least, I think it's a he)

Also, can anyone tell me how to NOT do a gradient boarder in photoshop, I just want a plain border, but every time I fill a selection, its faded like that.

[Edited on July 20, 2008 at 1:19 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on July 20, 2008 at 1:20 AM. Reason : .]

7/20/2008 1:18:18 AM

are you using paths or regular selection? There's a feather feature (box with amount of pixel width) and does the gradient transparency for you. Put it on 0px for no shading effect.

7/20/2008 1:33:30 AM

I go to select all, then select, modify -> border. then edit fill (and that fills x amount of pixels around the border. ) but its always a gradient transparency. the feather is set to 0, so I have no idea what is wrong

7/20/2008 2:08:45 AM

7/20/2008 2:23:08 AM

7/20/2008 2:45:36 AM

i love the cat's mouth

7/21/2008 9:56:20 AM

oh, very pretty picture



[Edited on July 22, 2008 at 3:28 PM. Reason : +]

7/21/2008 12:43:17 PM

7/21/2008 1:44:44 PM

^1985 - I add my borders by going "Image > Canvas Size" and then just adding an equal amount of pixels to both sides. I think the gradient border you have works for you in THIS picture though. Just my thoughts.

7/21/2008 10:29:20 PM

Keep in mind my shots are from a Sony DSC-H5, an SLR-like (advanced P&S), taken using the high speed shutter mode, steadyshot, using the burst mode. I also was using a UV filter & circular polarizer filter. One of my first sporting events for high-speed.

Some shots from PPIHC:
http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/prosper0/ppihc2008/?albumview=grid

Here are the highlights:

7/22/2008 1:42:55 PM

//-->

7/22/2008 1:44:08 PM

B&W or color? I recognize that neither version is all that good.

Pretty sure this was an Impala. I only got two pictures: I got the green light at the same time as him. Tryon and Hammond, taken 7/15.

7/22/2008 2:47:03 PM

I like the colored version.

7/22/2008 10:27:43 PM

set em up

7/22/2008 11:36:24 PM

64

7/22/2008 11:36:45 PM

sorry that its a little compressed but im too lazy to link the full size version. its been living in the stairwell for a couple weeks now. it finally came out enough to snap a decent pic. pretty big fucker. the slit he lives in (i know) its for a thick outside apartment stairwell. hes probably 1.5-2 inches length and width.

btw, were those pics on the last page (racing) from pikes peak?

7/22/2008 11:47:14 PM

My first foray into HDR, done manually in photoshop

7/23/2008 7:50:08 PM

how much do remote shutter releases go for? I've got a d40x (no auto-bracketing) and I'd like to get into HDR

7/23/2008 8:04:02 PM

^^Thats nice. What building is that?

7/23/2008 8:08:53 PM

remote controls are really cheap. almost always under 20. get a wireless one, theyre much better
http://www.b2cshop24.com/en/remote-control-shutter-for-nikon-d40-d50-d70-d70s-d80.html for your d40x

7/23/2008 8:20:17 PM

ive got a d40 but dont know how to use it. some one want to teach me?

7/23/2008 8:59:57 PM

I like the contrast of the building. Maybe lighten the sky a little bit?

7/23/2008 10:55:33 PM

I've been taking a ton of baby pics. also I got my tripod all together, which let me take some shots in the crib, only light was through the curtains:

7/24/2008 1:02:54 AM

It's the Rivers building at ECU.

As much as I hate to admit, I shot that one on Nikon - not that it makes a difference. The various shots were done handheld on my company's D40 just lining up some corner of the building with one of the 3 boxes in the viewfinder every time. Auto bracketing isn't necessary, but it's a plus, and when it comes to editing, a tripod is a huge plus.

7/24/2008 6:57:13 AM

I found this cool park near my apt. I'll have to get up early tomorrow to take some pics.

7/26/2008 10:23:27 PM