ekovisions

<p>There is only one Photoshop Elements. If you get it, buy the most recent version. <br>

I'd personally recommend Photoshop Lightroom, which is a separate program. You can work directly with the raw files and it is a very intuitive program. The difference is that you can (mostly) only adjust the overall image--as in contrast, color, saturation, tone, but for the whole image, not separate pieces. I find it super-easy to use. You can download a free trial as well to check it out.</p>

<p>This is just a guess-but given the regularity of those lines, I'm guessing you're seeing the adhesive for the laminate. The thing that puzzles me is that you don't see if it you just photocopy the photos using the same all-in-one? </p>

<p>I second the recommendation for Western Digital's drives. They are great. Having said that, they too will fail--so have at least 2, one off site. I use 2 WD drives as my Time Machine drives, and rotate them to my (non-home) office at least once a week. Hail Mary backup of DVDs burned of all originals (bucketed into folders as in The DAM Book), so worst case scenario I can restore the originals in the event both backup hard drives fail or get corrupted. </p>

 

<p>J--ha! Of course, I understand generally how and why and grad filter is generally used. My only point (made poorly, perhaps) is that with my experience in these areas, I've typically found that they are not fixable with a grad, because the blowouts are peaking through leaves or the sky is all V-Shaped looking through mountains. Your photo above, of course, useful. </p>

 

<p>This won't help you this year, but for next year or anyone out during the week: I was in Stowe and up Smuggler's Notch today 10/11--it's a wee bit past peak on the Stowe side of the mountain, but still very nice with bright yellows and lots of still-bright leaves on the rocks and in the streams. The North (Jericho) side of the pass was a bit nicer than the South side, with closer to peak with more variety in color. </p>

<p>Last weekend I hit Kancamangus in NH as well as Groton State Park & 302 in Vermont. Highly recommend both, of course, and they seemed to peak around the same time, this year the weekend before Columbus Day. Groton and 112 to the west of Lincoln are nice in that they are less crowded... I nearly had Groton to myself on a raining, dreary day that was perfect for fall colors. Could have easily spent a few days in each of these spots. If you're headed East from Lincoln and the colors start to get a bit drab, keep moving because the last two major spots before Concord are excellent.</p>

<p>ND Grad... not as useful for fall colors, IMHO. I mostly had either dreary white--that you cut out, or can't cut out or tone down with a Grad filter because it peeks through the leaves. In those cases I'll just bracket and find that sweet spot where I can get it all on the histogram--it usually worked b/c most the time there was diffused light from the clouds so not too much range. When the sky was blue during brief periods, maybe I lucked out but the lighting was even enough to capture without a Grad. Beyond which, I hardly ever find that the mountains cooperate in terms of shaping--usually they'll be Vs that make a grad less useful anyway. I have a few spots where I did just capture a few frames to do HDR, and now I have to go experiment with getting that to look right...</p>

<p>That was pretty awesome. </p>

<p>Really, both. You may want to do some close-ups of some of the flows, where the 24-105 will be handy. Also, when I was there, monkeys were everywhere along the little trail. You'll want the telephoto for them too (though they are remarkably close, your wide angle would be a bad idea for the monkeys. I did see someone get bitten badly when they got too stupidly close). </p>

<p>I did a two-month trip many years ago. Everyone is right about the weight... go light. At the time I had one of those Olympus all-in-one pseudo-SLR zooms (film). It worked well; I mailed home film on occassion. I would not suggest taking an SLR with mulitple lenses, unless you are VERY committed to carrying all that around. Try this... carry all the camera gear you're thinking about everywhere in your normal life for a few weeks. If you get sick of it, when you also don't have your clothes with you, just imagine after a few months on the road.<br>

If I were doing it I'd probably go with a G11 or one of the super-zoom all-in-ones. Keep in mind that you're traveling to some less developed places, so you're not going to want to stand out too much. I think a smaller camera like a G11 would help you blend in more. And you'd probably take it out more, use it more, because it will be less of a hassle. </p>

<p>2nd for Mpix. </p>

<p>I think there was a recall on some of the G10s for exactly this problem... have you checked that out? </p>

<p>One additional thought--why is there no information about you on your website? I couldn't find any information about your experience, biography, etc--or even indeed your name. Everything was a generic "contact us." <br>

This doesn't necessarily explain the issues you're seeing, but if I had two photographers I was choosing between, and had a photo & bio for one and not the other--I think I'd be more inclined to choose the one I knew more about.</p>

<p>Agree on the domain name. Cards generally OK--but please, please put dashes or dots or something in that phone number. It gives me a headache just to look at it. </p>

<p>John, though you'll be here for 4 weeks, be sure to do some careful looking at those distances between parks. There are a TON of parks out West, but the distances between them can be enormous (forgive me if you're from Canada or some other equally spacious country). Also, beware that it will be HOT particularly as you hit the southern part of that trip. <br>

San Francisco is awesome, and I highly recommend a trip to the farmer's market at the Embarcadero (good photography and amazing fruit) and a bike ride across the Golden Gate. You'll get a perspective hard to get by car. </p>

<p>Definitely take the 17-50. I was recently visiting Paris, and it was one of the first times I really relished having my 10-22 lens.... a must for the buildings, architecture, etc. I'd take the 24-105 as well. </p>

<p>January or February? That would be the rainy season in Botswana. Hot and Rainy. My understanding is it's also "harder" to find the game then, as they don't have to concentrate near water sources. </p>

<p>I don't have one yet, but I've been wanting a Crumpler--Customary Barge for exactly this sort of equipment. One of my friends has one and it looks great. </p>

<p>Great list. 2 pieces of my own advice--bring a travel power strip. They are relatively small and allow multiple people to share one outlet (or a few of you own devices). And, pillowcase. Easy to slip your camera in and out of a pillowcase, constantly, while it hangs around your neck, and shields it from a lot of the dust while you're driving. Seriously. </p>

<p>Goodness, refund the money. You have plenty of notice and lots to lose. Agree with previous posters that the goodwill you will create in a small community will be worth it. </p>

<p>How often do you use each of those lenses? </p>

<p>I did a safari in September in Botswana, I had the 10-22, 28-105, and 70-300. I used the 70-300 for probably 90% of my shots. I just looked through the set, and the only thing I did use the 10-22 for were shots of the cabins we stayed in, shots of people dancing in our breakfast area, shots of the camp we stayed at. I think you can get by without the 10-22. It's certainly a great lens, but I find that it's too wide for many situations, and I'll put safaris on top of that list. Also, it's incredibly dusty out there, so you'll probably limit your lens changes. (I highly recommend bringing a pillowcase to stow your camera in, on your lap, while driving around)<br>

<br /> <br /> Do you have a second body?<br /><br>

Also, one thing I had with me but didn't use nearly enough--get a flash extender. So much of the animal activity happens at dusk, and you'll be too far away from the lions (hopefully) for your flash to be of much use.</p>

<p>To be safe, I'd recommend getting more than enough cards for how much you think you'll shoot, AND a portable backup drive like a Wolverine or Epson. Backup the cards daily, but don't erase or format the cards at all unless you run out of space. That way you have 2 copies of everything until you get home--one on your cards, one on the backup drive. FWIW, I found that the Wolverine (older model) sucks battery power, so be prepared to keep it well-charged. </p>

<p><em>Which I actually do say that last part but to further add, if you do feel like you are leaning towards another photographer freakin' tell me why and I will do my best to change or add something comparable!</em><br>

<br /> One thought here--what's the incentive for the client to do this? If they have two photographers who they've hit it off with, and one has the package/terms/whatever all set up to exactly what they need--and the second is close--what's the incentive to go to the second and negotiate? I'm working in (totally unrelated) area now where vendors are asking me this constantly--what can I do? how can I win this?--and for me, and I expect many brides as well, I just want what I need with minimum hassle. Going back to ask you to tweak something is additional work. Obviously, if I'm leaning *towards* you for other reasons then talking to you and working something out makes sense. But if the rest of it is a toss up, then it might just not be worth it for the bride to come back to you.<br>

Of course, this will work in your favor sometimes, too.</p>

<p>Just a thought (having returned from Africa in September). Changing lenses really is not a good idea in the field, which you know. But chances are she'll seldom want to use anything shorter than 70mm anyway, so I doubt it will matter. Also, get her a pillowcase. Yes, pillowcase. Best accessory I brought to Africa with me, to help keep the dust away from the camera.</p>

<p>I'm looking for a foolproof, easy-to-use printer for a technologically challenged mom. Not prone to crash, easy to replace ink, easy to use, hard to mess up. Quality of images is secondary--I expect most anything on the market today is fine. Probably a 4 by 6 printer only, to keep it simple, but I'm open to other printers. Anyone have any recommendations? </p>

Goodness, don't use Parallels for this sort of thing. I converted to my Mac about a year and a half ago, and put on parallels for work stuff in MS programs. Every time I use it, something goes wrong. I'm probably going to get a cheap PC to have around for those times when I really need Windows.