alisa_stieg

<p>Hey Beth, no reason to be embarassed! I am convinced shooting large groups is the most difficult endeavor for a portrait photographer! LOL! At least you know now your lens can perform under those circumstances. Thanks for following up and posting the examples!</p>

<p>Jordan,<br>

Most of my photography is portraiture, and my go-to lens is my SMC PENTAX-F 50mm 1:1.7 autofocus lens. If I was going to buy a new portrait lens, it would definitely be the 1.4. I've heard others state that for portrait work they prefer to be farther away from their subject, but I do a lot of small groups as well as individuals and am often in a limited space, and the longer lenses would be a big problem for me. In addition to that, I prefer to work closer to my subjects, mostly children/teens, so I can interact with them more. It really depends on a lot of different factors.</p>

<p>Hey, Haig! Thanks for the warm welcome back! Between my full-time teaching, being a mother/wife, and the part-time photography that I've been doing, I haven't been able to participate in P-net, but I've missed it so much! This is such a great community! I actually thought about you as I drove into Arizona last weekend! Maybe I'll be able to find some great Arizona landscape shots in the near-future! You always have such good luck!<br>

Peter, that's not my saying at all. I found it on a quotes website and thought it was perfect for that photo, particularly knowing my friend and her dedication to her children.</p>

<p>Robert, I am so happy to hear you are home and recuperating! Continued prayers and good wishes to you for a speedy recovery! And I look forward to seeing some of your photography soon!<br>

Lisa</p>

<p>Beth, I hope you'll post your picture once you've taken it! I'm considering purchasing that same lens and would like to see how it handles a group that large. I wish you the best of luck! I absolutely detest shooting large groups! Have you used this lens at the 17mm a lot? Does it distort at all? </p>

<p>Maria, your new-improved version is a home run! Way to go!</p>

<p>I love the way the color pops on W5 and W1. I am also a fan of W3 and especially like the blue tinting on the glass! I always enjoy your photography and have missed looking at it!</p>

<p>Going to stick with Morgan's idea and pick my favorite three from the postings so far, which will be extremely difficult! <strong>Great photos, everyone</strong>!<br>

Leo's Ladybug, Grzegorz's bottles, and Arkadiy's bottles are my top favs!<br>

Here's my contribution; three from a recent photo shoot of some of my favorite subjects, the children of one of my teaching colleagues;</p>

<p> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_BNid0N9R6rFizb-roAcOA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_QwbDuwpRCRA/Sjc4ohwXUyI/AAAAAAAAEPs/o567wlEoX9I/s800/IMGP5733.JPG" alt="" /></a><br>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Zfl8EBrrftSGFA_2JPx2Ig?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_QwbDuwpRCRA/Sjc6lP2y3VI/AAAAAAAAEQc/TYD2e8nr6uY/s800/IMGP5601_0750.JPG" alt="" /></a></p>

<p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JewcEM6u8sCJs0bYYdGnGA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_QwbDuwpRCRA/Sjc4qKwK3BI/AAAAAAAAEPw/dobl_Y4hSEE/s800/IMGP5502_0651.JPG" alt="" /></a></p>

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<p>I have one of those too!! I miss the LCD Playback more than the delete button! LOL!</p>

<p>"The problem is that the higher you make the zoom ratio (13.9 in this case) the harder it is to make the lens fast. Look at the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4; it's not that large, but imagine having to take it from 70mm to 250mm. Even adding an extra stop to the long end would challenge any lens maker."<br>

Thank you...I was lamenting about this very issue the other day, asking myself "how hard can it be to make a fast, fixed aperature zoom lens?" Now I know (sort of)...</p>

<p>Love, love, LOVE the door shot! And I also agree with Javier that the broken ornament shot is great too! Thanks for sharing! Looks like you've been having fun!</p>

<p>I know you will get many more responses that are much more informed that the one I will post, having never shot film. I will mention that I have two zoom lenses, one Sigma and one Tamron, 70-300mm with a macro mode that perform very well. You can buy a used copy of either of these lenses for quite a reasonable price. That said, there are some very fine macro lenses out there that would be excellent choices as well, but they have the price tag to go with it! Are you using the macro mode on your camera as well? If not, see if you are happier with your images using the macro setting.<br>

Regarding the PP, it seems either you love it or you hate it. I actually love that aspect of it and use Photoshop CS3, but I also use Picasa 3 from Google. If you haven't tried it, you might consider it. Even though you already have Elements, Picasa 3 is a free download and has some super-quick fixes that do the job. Might find your PP work to be a little faster/eaiser. I know I do. They have even added a retouching feature for blemishes/scratches/dust. I'm always very impressed with its output! I would think if you've got experience with film, your images are probably on the right/mostly right side of things anyways, and probably just need quick fixes.</p>

 

<p>Dang! You call them trite, I think they are fabulous! I like so many of them...1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9...WOW! #1 is really my favorite! Sepia is a great choice for this photo! You need to print that one for sure! Great job! I'm so jealous!</p>

<p>Seriously? Their first experience with snow?! I'm so happy for them! I love the snow! Some of my favorite pictures of my oldest children are when we drove to Northern Arizona for them to experience it as well! Such fun memories!<br>

Love your images, and I must say that the adjusted image of the road is my favorite! I do love road shots!!!<br>

Lisa</p>

<p>Well, it was definitely a "user problem" and not a lens problem". I switch back and forth between my 50mm lens and my 18-250mm zoom, which is a variable aperature. When I switched lenses, I forgot about the variable aperature and it was not f/8, but f/4.5, giving me really only about a foot to work with according to the DOF charts at 5 feet away from my subject. I didn't realize this until I went back and looked at all the EXIF data after posting the question to this thread. I still have so much to learn! LOL! So far, I've learned that I'm not crazy about variable aperture lenses! *sigh*</p>

<p>Thanks for all the answers guys!</p>

<p>I'm jealous, Scott! Wish we'd get some snow here!<br>

Those are great shots! I like Long Cold Road the best!</p>

<p>How would you go about testing a lens to make sure it's good? Or "normal", I guess. I've really been considering the Pentax DA 16-50 lens, but so many people have made comments about "bad copies" that I waver back and forth. How do you know if you have a "good copy" of a lens or not?<br>

I recently took some shots of some families and noticed that my images looked "soft" on the right hand side of the image, but not the left. All the subjects were the same distance away and I was shooting at f/8, so it wasn't a depth-of-field issue. Does it sound like something's wrong with my lens? </p>

<p>Like the blog, Mis! Glad you posted the A Lego A Day link in your blog roll...never knew it existed! What a fun blog! And Javier, I'm SO GLAD you asked that question! I always wondered what Miserere Mei meant!</p>

Dan,

I purchased the K20 back in July using the Pentax Gear-Up Rebate and have been really happy with it. I upgraded from the K100D to the K20D, so that was quite a jump. I really love the TaV mode and the fact that I doubled my mega pixels. HOWEVER, everything I've read in terms of image quality states that it comes down to the glass. If given a choice, you should choose good glass over the camera, as it has more of an impact on your images. Justin's response makes the most sense to me. Buy a lens that you'll be able to use on either camera and wait for the K30. As for lens choice, I would go with the Pentax DA* 50-135mm...wish I could afford one myself!

Well, I haven't been able to do much more than snapshots lately, but out of everything I've shot this month, this one

is my favorite! Even raking up leaves and hickory nuts, this kid's wearing a smile on his face! <br>

 

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BUTj7iBJAgsD4-

WCmUI76A"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_QwbDuwpRCRA/SQyWK7OZ1-

I/AAAAAAAACqY/bFYOOJtLdSY/s400/Oct282008_3781%20copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-

family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a

href="http://picasaweb.google.com/skweekysoo/Miscellaneous">Miscellaneous</a></td></tr></table>

Justin, I think you ignored Bill's comment and you might want to seriously consider it! My opinion of your work is probably not worth much, but when I look at your photography, I wonder...do you do this for a living, and if not, WHY NOT?! You have SKILLS, dude

And sorry for hijacking your post, Les. I guess you have to be the guinea pig!

Thanks for the info, gang! I had no idea that post on pentax equipment even existed! Good to know!

Wow...those are fabulous! I love them all! The second to last photo with the red leaf that pops out is a great shot to me (because of that red leaf!), but they are all absolutely wonderful! I want to go NOW! LOL!

Incidently Abe, I really like your birdhouse shot!