kareng

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<a href="http://www.photo.net/shared/community-member?user_id=3669169">John O'Berry</a> said <i>if you are arachnophobic are you going to rate down every image of a spider?</i><br>

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<a href="http://www.photo.net/photos/kareng">Karen</a> says.... YES! But only if it's a hairy one... those kinda freak me out.<br>

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Seriously though.. I thought it was a decent photo. I was bummed by the lack of gravitational consistency with the blood on her face compared to the rest of the scene. But it was cool. This thread is kind of a cheap shot.<br>

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K.

I dig it. Nice work.

Yeah. What Micki said.

 

It takes some time for the critiques to start rolling in, but I've found the place pretty helpful. I even like to think that my work is better now than it was when I joined in August, especially the post processing stuff. If you can tune out the 3/3 freaks, there's lots of useful stuff and great people here.

 

-k

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I bought my D80 back in March and I got the 18-55/55-200 kit lenses. It's a real pain in the ... I constantly find myself wanting to use whatever lens is not on the camera at that particular moment.

 

That being said, my attention span is about as long as that of a flea on speed. One second it's "Oooh.. a bug." and the next it's "Ooooh.. a tree way over there." and right after that it's "Oooooh.. another bug." I end up changing the lens alot which is kind of irritating but I am certainly asking too much. They are great lenses for experimenting and doing lots of different things.

 

If you are really interested in wildlife (or anything else you can't get really close to), the 55-200 is probably going to frustrate you. Long story short... I'd get the 70-300 VR and probably the 18-70, and I'd still be irritating the hell out of myself changing the lens every thirty seconds, but at least I could go all the way to 300 and I'd have VR.

 

I'm sleep deprived again.. forgive the rambling.

 

-k

Rene,

 

I might be only 30 but I'm a veteran of knee surgery (this year) and back surgery (in 2002) already and I'm probably about a year away from hip surgery if things continue they way they are going. One of the best things you can do for yourself is in the area of weight distribution. You want things to fit right and you want the weight to be even on your shoulders. Steer clear from any bag with only one shoulder strap like the slingshot, as it will unfortunately distribute weight unevenly on your shoulders and back. It's a nice bag, but I wouldn't use it. When you are packing your bag, pack it as evenly as possible. Your best bet is to take some gear to a local shop and try out new bags. What fits well for one isn't necessarily going to fit well for you.

 

Obviously, pack light. If you 'might' need something, leave it at home or in the car. I don't have a lot of gear, but I also cut down on the extras that I might want to bring. I buy whatever food or drink I need wherever I happen to be instead of carrying it around. Sounds like you need a tripod, so the carbon fiber varieties are obviously the way to go. Much lighter.

 

Here's a tip that seemed to come from out of left field when my physical therapist said it to me: If you carry your wallet in your back pocket, take it out and put it in your front pocket and leave it there for the rest of eternity. Period. Believe it or not, it makes a big difference in the alignment of your spine when you are sitting down. Sounds silly, but it works.

 

The other things are to wear the right shoes for the occasion, know when to sit down and take a breather, and pay closer attention to your posture. I wasn't doing any of the right things when my problems started, it took the 10 months of total misery from onset to recovery from surgery to get my attention. A harsh way to learn, but such is life.

 

Good luck.

Karen

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Wow Micki! You hit on something that has been bugging me too lately. I thought I would be posting as kgriffith or something close since that is what I wanted my url to be. I was kinda bothered too that when I post it posts my full name. I noticed it immediately but I didn't think it was something I could change. Felt the same way about my email address. Good to know that it's fixable... it just hadn't bugged me enough yet to inspire me to start asking questions.

 

Josh... you do a bang up job, seriously.

 

Karen

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I'm kind of surprised they sued too. I looked at the pdf of Turnley's photo essay and felt that he treated the subject with respect. Some of the photos of the bodies in Iraq were, while not really shocking, certainly not something you'd see in the newspaper. The whole thing seemed well put together and the pictures of the young man in the open casket service were not distasteful at all. Weird that they would sue. If Turnley made some kind of outrageously political statement with his work, I could maybe see their problem, but he didn't.

 

Karen

Shun, good info. I'll look into the AF and AF-D versions, maybe I'll find one cheap. And yes, I'll almost surely not use the AF much at all. I already find myself turning it off, it's just not been very helpful for close up shots.

 

Nick, thanks for the info. I'll look into the Sigmas too. I wasn't sure about the quality but I'll take your word for it.

 

Thanks.

Karen

Walter, Vivek,

 

I googled it myself and found the 3000 or so answers. (I'm kinda good with these here computer thingies.) However... the first hundred or so that I read didn't answer my question very well. I don't need the BEST lens on the market, I just want one that will work for me. Hence the post.

 

Pat, I will take a look at that one, thanks for the info.

 

Peter, I dig your line of thinking. I will check that out too.

 

Stephen, I find that even on close up shots with my regular lens, the AF leaves something to be desired. I've been shooting in auto for a lot of things, but I have been switching to exclusivelly manual for closer shots. I have been getting better results that way. BUT.. I have found my AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm just doesn't cut it for me.

 

Scott, good info. Thanks for the answer.

 

Karen

Sorry for the supernewbie question, but I couldn't seem to find the answer on

the forums already.

 

I am looking to buy a macro lens for my D80. I don't want to spend a ton of

money but I also want a good quality product. So.. something mid to high-

amateur level would probably do just fine. I also have my eye on the D300

being added to my arsenal sometime within the next six months, so I would need

it to be good for both, if that's possible.

 

What's a good lens for me to look at? I know the Nikkor lenses are excellent,

but the one I saw was a VR and priced at $900. That's a bit over the top for

me. (Although I'll be pining for it anyway.)

 

Any info you have is much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Karen

Awesome, thanks everyone. Great info.. I figured it was something that was happening when PN resized the photo, I just didn't understand what exactly was going on.

 

Thanks again everyone for the info... really appreciate it.

 

Karen

Quick question for you... I posted <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?

photo_id=6492030&size=md">this picture</a> yesterday and immediately noticed

distortion in the sky immediately surrounding the line that the birds are

sitting on. It sort of looks like heat rising like you'd see off hot pavement

and such. However, it disappears when you go to the larger view. I can shrink

this photo down to a very very small size in Elements and I can't reproduce

this distortion. I can't quite figure it out.<br>

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So... does everyone else see that bit of distortion or are my eyes playing

with me? And if you see it, what gives? What did I do to that photo to make

that happen?<br>

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Thanks.<br>

Karen

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Photogenic, and they taste good too.<div></div>

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I live near DC too, but I grew up just north of the NC/VA border. The outer banks in North Carolina is quite nice. If you drive it all the way to Ocracoke, you can see the sunset over Pamlico Sound. Quite a lot of wildlife reserve there too, so you will see some generally untouched landscapes.