joshodonnell

What lens are you using? Is it a Nikon lens or a 3rd party?

What you are experiencing is perfectly normal. RAW files are theoretically supposed to be 100% unaltered data representing exactly the data that your camera recorded initially. On the other hand .jpg files are optimized by the camera, therefore colors may appear richer or have better contrast. The advantage of RAW is that you yourself can make the adjustments in a manner that is suitable for your taste. RAW also allows you to adjust white-balance AFTER you take the shot, whereas shooting in .jpg does not allow this. Another advantage is that you can adjust exposure much more accurately with RAW files. I pretty much shoot everything in RAW, especially anything that I might like to display and/or sell.

I use the Adobe RAW Converter plugin that came with Photoshop CS2. When I convert to .jpg I have more than enough resolution to print anything I want, up to 24x30" if I choose. I'm not familiar with PictureProject, I'd recommend ACR if you use CS2.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Gatorland in Orlando? I think it's a good place to get some nice bird shots as well....

I don't know if what I'm asking for here is even possible, but I thought I'd

throw this question out there and see... Here's the situtation.

 

I am volunteering my time and services for a charity auction that my soon-to-

be-in-laws help put on. It's a semi-formal affair that raises over $200K for

a local group-home assocation. My plan is to set up a backdrop near the

registration table and take portraits of couples and basically anyone who

wants a portrait. I am then going to offer 5x7" and 8x10" prints for sale and

I'll donate all the proceeds back to the charity organization. The organizers

of the event would like for me to have the option to print the name of the

event, date, etc across the bottom of each portrait. Obviously I could do

this very easily in PS. However, I was wondering if there were any online

print services that will add the text I want using a foil-stamp of some sort?

I don't know exactly what it is called, but I want the lettering to be done

with foil or something similar that will stand out a little more than simply

adding the text to the digital image and printing it like that. I currently

use WHCC for my prints but I haven't found this option with them. Anyone have

any suggestions???

 

Thanks!

If you make it to Fort DeSoto and would like a local to join you let me know!

Hi folks... I've been using my D50 for almost a year now and I really have

enjoyed it. One of the areas that I've found to be really limiting is when I

shoot in burst mode. The 2.5 fps is slow but for the most part I can deal with

that. I prefer to shoot everything in RAW and therefore when in burst mode I

only am able to get 4 frames before the camera pauses for several seconds to

write to the SD card. I mainly do bird photography, so as you can image when

I'm tracking a bird in flight this pause is problematic and results in lots of

missed opportunities. I understand that if I switch over to JPEG I'll be able

to get many more shots in the burst, however I would prefer not to do this.

Are there any 'optimal' settings in the D50 menu options (especially any

options that are buried deep in the menus) that will allow me to get an extra

frame or two in each burst when shooting RAW? Also, are there any SD cards

that will take on the data quickly and allow for longer bursts? Thanks for any

suggestions...

Hi, I owned this lens for a short time (the older non-DG version). $1500 isn't a bad price if it's in good shape, especially if it comes with anything extra, like the TS-41 tripod collar, which is a big improvement over the original tripod collar. I enjoyed the lens and captured some great images with it. I used it a lot with the 1.4x TC and tried it multiple times with 2x TC. IQ with the 1.4x was very acceptable, there was almost no noticeable loss in IQ. IQ with the 2x TC wasn't so great, I have very few sharp images from that combo. I had fun with the lens but I didn't enjoy lugging it around, it's a heave lens. I sold it and now use the Nikon 300mm f4 AF-S...

I agree that this is definately a redish egret...

Marvin, I agree with Kin? You would be well suited to check out the Florida forum on the Naturescapes.net forums. The folks there are very informative and usually very helpful when it comes to photography locations. I am one of them :-D but I live on the west coast and don?t know much of anything about the east coast of Florida. Here are a couple threads that might be helpful for you?

 

http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=83164

 

http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=82373

Unfortunately Gatorland suffered a severe fire a couple days ago. Here is a link about the fire....

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-ggatorland1100606,0,1312068.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

Mark, that's an interesting thought you have there... I'll give something like that a try if the opportunity presents itself, but I have a feeling the current on this river is so slow that I won't have to worry about excessive motion too much. The only canoe access that I have is through a rental place that is only open 10a-5:30pm, thus I'll likely have some pretty harsh light and will be using shutter speeds of 1/1000 or faster.

 

Thanks to everyone else for your suggestions as well!

Just returned from the store with another set of new batteries... Still nothing... The unit powers on just fine, the focus changes when I adjust the zoom, it just won't fire. When I try manually test-firing I hear a 'click' but no flash occurs. I guess it's getting shipped back to Amazon tomorrow.

On second thought... I compared the 'noise' that I hear when I turn on my SB-600 to that of the cheapo Opteka flash unit that I have, and it definately doesn't sound as if there is any sort of capacitor buzzing in the SB-600... Guess it's getting sent back.

I held the unit next to my ear and powered it on... I definately heard a high-pitched noise that lasted for about 3 seconds. The batteries are brand new and the unit turns on just fine, so I don't think they're the problem.

Hi, I just received a new SB-600 and for some reason it's not firing. I

followed the set-up instructions and it won't do anything. When I hit

the 'flash' button to test fire, it doesn't do anything. I'm pretty sure that

it's mounted correctly, b/c it's displaying the focus length just fine and

when I adjust the zoom on my 18-55 lens it changes the focus of the flash. Is

there something simple that I'm overlooking? I'm using it on my D50 and I've

tried it in P, A, M, and auto modes and it's not firing... The AF-assist lamp

on the flash isn't illuminating either. Do I have a lemon?

I'm actually going to be making a trip to NW Missouri this weekend and I'm going to try and make it over to Squaw Creek Friday afternoon... If I do I'll share any decent photos that I come back with!

Hi there, I grew up about 2 hours north of KC... The first place that comes to mind for me is Squak Creek National Wildlife Refuge... It would be a litte bit of a drive from KC, but it's a great place... It's probably about 75 miles north of KC, it's easily accesible via I-29. It's been about 5 years since I've visited, however it's a safe bet that it's still very worthwhile of a day trip. It's a GREAT place during the fall migration for all sorts of migratory bids... Also can find lots of bald eagles and it's not uncommon to spot world-record caliber white-tail deer.

 

Here is a website for more info...

 

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/SquawCreek/

I'm not positive but there SHOULD be a B&W setting... HOWEVER, you will get considerably better results if you shoot everything in color and use Photoshop to convert the images to B&W... The algorithms within the camera are far inferior to the capabilities of Photoshop or whatever software you use for post-processing.

I don't know if this is true or not... I heard this while taking an entry level photography class from a local studio after I bought my D50... The instructor said if you have the choice between using a card reader and transferring directly from the camera that you should use the card reader... His reasoning was that if the battery on your camera were to go out while transferring, there is a substantial risk of files becoming corrupt and thus images lost...

I don't know if this idea has any merit or not... But it has crossed my mind that Nikon put the SD in the D80 entice D50 owners to upgrade to the D80, while D70s users who already have the compact flash cards will be more tempted to upgrade to the higher priced D200 so they don't have to spend more $$$ on SD cards... I don't know if that makes any sense or not.

Hi there, I have the same lens and I too use it on a D50. I've never really used the macro feature, however I have achieved some good results with this lens when shooting birds. Here is a small gallery with some photos from a trip I went on last weekend and used this lens exclusively.

 

http://www.uploadit.org/gallery/14321

 

It's definately sharpest when used around F8. Most of these photos were shot at full zoom, ISO 200, F8, and shutter speeds from 1/250-1/1000

Bill, thanks for the comment! It is definately an amazing place... I had visited there several times previously, however those times were for relaxing on the beach and I never had my camera with me... I'm lucky that I am only about 45 minutes away, I plan on making it one of my regular stops once the summer heat lessens and the fall migration starts.

So I made my first official bird photography trip to Fort DeSoto Park this

morning ... It was a wonderful morning and there were plenty of birds to keep

me occupied. There were plentiful amounts of more species than I could list.

 

The "keepers" from this morning can be found in this gallery:

 

http://www.uploadit.org/gallery/14317/

 

I'm still very much a beginner, so I am very pleased with the results of my

first birding adventure!

Ahhhh third times a charm Bob! Thanks for the example and advice...

 

I've a feeling I'm going to end up with the Tamron 200-500... It's considerably lighter than the 50-500 and most reviews I've read from people who've used them both seem to favor the overall performance of the Tamron... Plus I can get it for ~$250 cheaper than the Sigma 50-500, which I can put towards some new filters!