Okay, so we know that a suspritzed diamagnetic synchronizing filter doesn't REALLY exist, but I've also heard that you really SHOULD use a filter, and that there are lots (Gobs I think) different types of filters... So....

1. Has someone already taken the time to explain different filters? If so, could I have the link?
2. If not, would any of our more "salty" photo-masters mind taking a minute and tapping out what filters a beginner (like me) should start with, and what filters one may grow into?

Thanks everyone...

C

Okay, I've been away from Photographica for a few months, but in scanning the Q & A and in the forums I haven't noticed anything to clue me in on what I think I may need clueing in on.

>whew<

Okay. I uploaded a couple of photos of ducks tonight. These photos I did not think merited being on the front page so I did as I have in the past with photos like this, I put them in my photolog.

But when I click on "main" to bring me to the front page here, I saw my post, as well as in the photolog. I did indeed select "my photolog" and not "general photography" for the section.

Did I goof up? Has something changed? Am I just remembering something incorrectly?

hi,

I'm new here(take it easy)
just got my first slr camera-digital that is. Boy! what a camera,no focus, no thinking. Just loving it.

Jesus LOves you, all!!

One of my favorite portrait photographers has died.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060607/en_nm/photographer_newman_dc

He has taken some of the most wonderful shots I have ever seen.

Hi, I am the web designer (and newsletter editor) for a photo club in Milwaukee.

I was wondering if I could get some feedback from y'all on how the new site design looks and works.

The address for what is up now is:
http://www.uecpc.org
and the new design is:
http://www.uecpc.org/new

I would appreciate, especially, some input on the gallery section.

Be as brutal as you think you need to be, I really would like an impartial opinion - the club thinks it is great, but they have to agree (or I take my computer and go home :-)  o.k., not really, but they don't want to say anything bad for fear of hurting my feelings)

Thanks in advance for all your thoughts.

David

how do you determine the correct size..thought I had a board correct then when I went to print preview it was like a 9x11..so needless to say I was dissappointed--in order to print it had to do it on a 11x14 and then trimmed..and boy was it hard to find and odd size frame.
  Sure hope this goes in Q/A section because I know there have been some problems of getting into the right category.

This is just a follow up on a previous review/article. Someone recommended Rentglass as a great resources for lenses.

I just wanted to mention how great their customer service is. I was watching for 2 lenses to come in so I could (try - they are pretty hard to rent) rent them, wanting to test some different type of lenses before I take the plunge and purchase more then the 18-55 that came with my camera. I wanted a telephoto for graduation and decided to just buy one and hope for the best.

The day after the telephoto lens came up for rent and I was so excited about being home when the email arrived that I forgot I had just purchased the nearly identical lens (ok, so not the brightest). I quickly sent off an email and the order was clarified and cancelled within 10 minutes.

Customer service alone will make me try them again.

P.S. - I put this in articles and reviews, but if it shows up on general can an editor move it for me? Thank you!

  We've had a lot of discussion lately about focusing. So I got to thinking what could cause you to not get a reasonably focused shot. Then I thought I might as well write something about it and this is the result. I was home alone and the Cardinals aren't playing so...
  This pertains mostly to autoFocus.  If you're focusing manually and not focusing properly or not focusing on the right subject, you probably have other problems. I thought of 4 things that can cause bad focus or apparent bad focus. I illustrated the various problems with a setup of a Larry Bird Bobblehead and a model of Brian Urlacher kicking Brett Favre's butt.  If you're a Packer fan I apologize and since I'm a Bear fan you know I don't mean it!  In all cases the goal was to have Larry Bird be the subject and in focus.  There was no post work done other than cropping, no sharpening, no nothing.  Also, I use a canon which focuses when the shutter button is half depressed, yours may not work that way.

1. Correct.  - 1/40 @ F4 48mm The autofocus sensors correctly chose Larry and he was sharp the background was slightly blurred at F4.
2. Hey, I'm over here!  - 1/40 @ F4 48mm The autofocus sensors decided this time to focus on Brian & Brett.  This leaves Larry, our intended subject, a big blurry glob. Since he is also the biggest thing in frame he would be very disconcerting and annoying if you actually wanted Brian as your subject.  This situation can happen quite frequently with autofocus, the camera has no idea what you want.  What makes it worse is that on the small preview screen they could both look pretty good. On the small screen this and pic #1 both look pretty good and similar.
3. Whoa, you passed me up!  - 1/30 @ F4.5 105mm In this shot I focused just as in pic #1 on Larry. He's sharp and in focus then I decide to zoom in... What happend. Lenses have a minimum focus distance and on zoom lenses it usually increase as you zoom. So, after I depressed the shutter button to focus, held it, and then zoomed in to get closer to take the picture the subject was now too close at that focal length. You should re-focus if you zoom in or out for optimum results.
4. Hold your horses!  - 1/20 @ F5.6 48mm I removed the camera from the tripod and handheld this to show you one of the biggest (IMO) causes of shots that appear out of focus...camera movement. This happens when the shutter speed is too slow to handhold. The old rule of thumb was to use a shutter speed that was 1(lens mm) or next faster. Here I was shooting at 48mm so 1/50(1/60 if you don't have digital) of a second should be ok for me to handhold. But there are other factors involved, how steady are you, how good a base you got, if the subject has movement, you really have to know yourself and your camera and practice. There are techniques to help you hold steady though, don't hold your breath- release it and then press shutter, don't jab at shutter- press it, Feet shoulder width apart, support camera with both hands, lower center of gravity while maintaining balance the better, if you do any gun shooting these will be familiar. I feel I can hold steadier if I keep a little pressure on my face with camera. If you have an EVF camera, I found that I could hold it steadier if I braced both elbows on my chest and held the camera closer to my body than at arms length. Invest in a tripod, most digital cameras are so light, most any cheapie will be better than nothing, or a monopod. Here's a closer crop so you can see the ghosting effect with camera movement.
5. Will you get outta my way?  - 1/40 @ F4 28mm When ever you shoot thru something, glass, diry glass, screens, fences, leaves, grass, even if you can't see them in the final pic, it softens the image somewhat. This was shot thru a brown panty hose. I used to have a nylon hose stretched on an embroidery hoop for soft focus effects. I was worried that Barb would come back from bingo while I was rummaging in her underwear drawers... wish I had a nickel everytime that happened. The puma shot I posted the other day was shot through a close-knit cable net and leaves and displayed this soft focus effect. This is not necessarily bad unless you got it just cause you were too lazy to open the screen door.

  Well, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Now I expect all the experts to correct any mistakes, and add their own thoughts or tips.  Again this is generalized, with me having Canon, and some smaller digital cameras. Oh, I just thought of another reason for camera movement, shutter lag, I don't know if it's as big a problem as it used to be. That's the condition where you hit the shutter button but the camera doesn't actually take the pic for a split second and you move during that time thinking the shot is already taken.  Well, any way help me out here guys. Thanks to Tomnorth for spurring me to do this, though I don't know if he wants any credit... or blame! 8o)

I had decided it was time to upgrade to a better camera! I contacted Mike at ClassyShots by PM. He was more than happy to help and really did a great job. I usually get the "wants" and don't do my research on the product or the company...  Mike slowed me down and asked just the right questions and made me do some research! I did and found a really good deal on a Canon EOS 30D and two lenses.... A really great buy, it was several hundred dollars cheaper than I had found any place else! I called the company and yes it was in stock and they answered all my questions about the 2 lenses....I thought about it and looked everywhere else for prices and some came close....really close, but I figured that if I could save even 50.00 that would buy another CF card!!! Right?....Well I called to order and bought the bargain extended warranty from 699.00 to a great buy of only 199.00 for 3 yrs. So I gave my Debit Card #'s ...Then they tell me it is a 6 week wait...it's not in stock!  I cancelled the order! But they have all my #'s! I called the bank and they can't stop the  debit card but my withdrawal limit is 1000.00 and I ended up spending way over that so the card wouldn't go through anyway, even if they tried it! And to make a long story short!!!...I researched the companies and found one that really has good feedbacks....Ordered the 30D with the standard lens for more than the other dealand got the extended warranty for 3 yr for 89.00, but I can feel really good  because it wasn't a scam!  17th street Photo told me they hear stories just like mine everyday. It's a bait and switch scam.

So the moral of my story is go to this site and check out the company you want to use for your photographic needs.  This place is excellent.... http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1895.html  This is just one of the companies I looked up. I looked up 12 different camera companies and got the same results as above !  Lots of them are all one company and just work under different names. Mike told me to buy from a reputable company and I am a very trusting person so I just assumed that they all were trustworthy, if they had good feedback on their internet page.... Ok so now I am older and wiser!! And still have most of my money!
Thank You Mike for guiding me along, I won't forget your kindness!
Carla

I just got on to the thing and I know how to look at other photos but getting my photos on my computer to my site is almost impossible! Help!

This is my very first time trying anything like this. I never really had enough money to get a decent camera when I was young but I have always loved photagraphy. I did this yesterday with a friends camera just to see how it went. Please critique me!DESCRIPTION_HERE DESCRIPTION_HERE DESCRIPTION_HERE

I know some of you old hands know what all of the letters and numbers in the ads for lenses stand for but for someone just starting out then can be rather confusing.

Well we are here to try and help. Much of this applies to Canon lenses only as that is what I use. If one of you Nikon people out there want to add to this please do so. I'm sure there are some that could use a little help.

Triangle (Photographers association) had a seminar this weekend in Pittsburgh...I didn't make it Sunday but I was lucky enough to be able to go today - Well, one of the speakers totally blew me away with her work. Her name is Vicki Taufer. If you are into professional portraits you should check out one of her seminars if you ever get a chance in the meantime you can view her work at http://vgallery.net/.  

MY HOME TOWN PIC.

Hello guys,
Just made the jump to a DSLR...Hippee! bought a Canon 30d with an EF 17-40L and a EF 50 1.8 lens. 2 questions - do many of you shoot in RAW and what are the benefits of shooting in RAW? and what lenses do you recommend I should buy next? I'm think of either getting the EF 24-105L or getting 2 lenses - Tamron 28-75 f2.8 XR Di LD and the Sigma 10-20, but if there are other lenses I should check out...please let give me suggestions...Thanks! :)

I have a problem.....and it's driving me crazy......

Some of my shots have spots; some have no spots.  Some have a "white" spot in the lower right corner; some don't.  Is it possible for the CF card to be bad in certain areas (I have taken over 10,000 shots w/my camera, and 99.9% of these shots have been taken on this one card)?  I have done the sensor cleaning on my camera, and blown it out......help.....what do y'all suggest aside from sending it out to Canon to be cleaned?  Here's some examples of what I'm talking about....all taken with same CF card, same lens (18-55mm).

no spots, all auto
spots, TV setting
few spots, action setting
spots, TV setting plus, this one has the white spot in lower right corner

I know I can fix these in PS, but, this has just started happening in the last few days.....I'd like to get it fixed.......any advice would be appreciated.....Thanks!

Hey all I just bought a new Nikon D70 and am blown away with it all. I can't wait to use it but a little intimidated also. Any feedback or suggestions will be greatly appreciated also. I love to take pictures unfortunately I have always relied on the automatic button rather than work on anything manually. I do own a N80 also but have always just let the camera decide everything. I would really like to learn more of the how-to of doing my own settings. So any help would be appreciated.
Thank You in advance for any and all comments.
 Barbie aka bareftphoto

I uploaded some pictures twice...forgot i did it the night before and can not figure out how to remove them now ...how dumb is that?

Guess what I got?

One more guess.

2006 PT Cruiser

He loves me <<<grinning>>> oh and my van broke down again...LOL

I took a picture of the moon this morning for the weekly challenge (turned out rotten, so I won't bore you with it), but I noticed a white spot that didn't change position on various shots.  Checked the monitor, all black is all black, so it isn't that.  Am I correct in assuming it is a dead spot in the CCD?  It is defiantly a spot, smaller then period.  If it was dust/dirt it would have been a blur?  Also, I checked back a couple of months, and I didn't see the spot anywhere else.