Larry_G1664882113

Tom, Many thanks for your response. I looked at your Uluru and Kata Tjuta images. As I expected, the landscape is much like the Southwest in the U.S. You were fortunate to be at these places at different times to catch different light. You seem to affirm the places we mentioned. You surely have done much diverse travel. We are definitely interested in the Outback and Have Uluru on our list. Kaya Tjuta looks even more interesting. Many thanks for your response. You have many nice images as memories of your travel. Thanks again. Larry

J.M. Many thanks. This is the kind of information we need. I'll check your portfolio for images, that is if I can get to them on this clumsy website. Thanks again. Larry

My wife and I are planning a four-week trip to Australia from the United States that would likely take place in May 2018. We have a couple of travel guides and are using the Internet, but would like insight and ideas from PN users in Australia and/or from those who have traveled extensively in Australia. Is Qantas the airline to use? We understand there is a Qantas pass if one makes an international reservation on Qantas.

 

We are interested in a good exposure to the country, the people, culture, history, nature, and photography (my wife does not do photography, but is great and patient with my camera mania). We realize there will likely be significant travel within Australia. Some of the places we have identified in no particular order or priority yet include: Sydney; Blue Mountains,;Adelaide; Great Ocean Road; Melbourne; Kangaroo Island; Great Barrier Reef and Daintree National Park or Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia; Darwin and Kakadu National Park; and the Ghan train between the south and Darwin stopping at Uluru and other recommended outback places. All of this is completely flexible at this point. We realize the need to be selective as we want a genuine and somewhat intensive experience. Do you know of any Australian travel services that would help in trip planning and possibly provide experienced guides in different locations? We don't just want to be tourists. And, I'd like to come home with some quality, memorable images. Thanks for your time and your insights. Many thanks. Larry

Wow, This has generated a lot of interesting response. Thank you all. Since I have a D500 with XQD and SD slots, I will make the SD card a backup slot. That way I can transfer the files to my WD My Passport Wireless Pro hard drive using the SD slot in the portable hard drive. I will try out the XQD using a card reader with USB before using it in the field. If it works fine. if not, I'll stick to the SD card for transferring files. Larry

Thanks to all: Danny, Rick Ikka, ShunCheung. The remaining conundrum is whether I can use the USB file on the XQD with a USB XQD reader to download daily files to my portable WD My Passport Wireless hard drive. I appreciate all of your responses. Larry

I just got my D500 and have not used the XQD slot. What is your experience with XQD cards? I do a lot of travel photography and have a Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro portable hard drive for moving daily shot-shoots off cards and into the hard drive. The portable hard drive has a USB port where I could hypothetically plug in a XQD card reader. I appreciate learning about your experiences with XQD. I would likely buy one or two 32GB XQD cards with a card reader. Thanks. Larry

I just bought a D500, upgrade from D7000. I would check out buying the camera from B&H Photo and Video. You'll get a good price and excellent customer service from B&H. Larry

I just purchased a D500 too. Be sure you do not make an processing choices in the menu settings. Leave white balance on auto, shoot RAW, and choose standard rather than vivid or anything else for the color selection. I can't remember which menu standard is in. Good luck with resolving the problem.

I would appreciate any experience with or opinion about the Nikon D500. Reviews say its the top DX camera available. Agree, disagree, other . . .

 

Thanks. Larry

What is your experience using DX lenses with a full frame camera body? I currently use a Nikon D7000 and am thinking of upgrading to a D810 full frame camera. I have a Tokina 12-24mm DX lens as well as a Rokinon 16mm f.20 lens. Is it worth upgrading to the D810? I am not planning to spend the money to upgrade to the FX Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 at this time. I also have a Nikon 70-200 mm f4 lens that I am using on the D7000. I believe it is an FX lens. What's your opinion on using DX lens with the D810? Thanks. Larry

David, Many thanks for your helpful response. Your interestingness images are wonderful. I especially like the birds, owl, and coyote shots. The bokeh in these telephoto shots is excellent, and there is not any visible noise even though you shot most of these at ISO 1600 or 3200. I think you are saying that DxO Optics Pro is best used as a stand-alone since it can retrieve images from LR's catalog. I look forward to seeing more of your images. The new PN website has me frustrated as it is so complex. Are your images safe from theft Flickr? I notice you have a signature or watermark on each image. Thanks again, David. Larry

What are your experiences with DXO Optics Pro 11? I heard about it, reading about the top apps for noise reduction. I watched a video in which it seems to resemble Nik Software with updates. Reviews are laudatory, and the price is high, $199 US for the elite edition and $129 for the standard edition. Does the entire app of tools work as a plugin to Lightroom or just the noise reduction? Can it be loaded as both a plugin and as stand alone software? Will it search files in the LR catalog? Is it nondestructive? Any of your experiences and opinions are appreciated. Thanks. Larry

David, Thanks for your apt advice. I will practice night shots whenever I can get away from the city. Obviously, it won't be the Aurora, but at least I can practice getting the focus correct and experiment with different shutter speeds. Just practicing using the camera in the dark will be a plus. I will happily post any successes online at PN. Thanks again. Larry

Glenn, I really like your last post of the Milky Way. Can you share the exif data and the location? David, your first image with the red cliff and tree is quite good.

I will be going to Alaska and will be on an Arctic Circle day trip to photograph the Northern Lights. I have been reading Patrick Endres' e-book, How to Photograph the Northern Lights. It's superb and he's most helpful. I purchased a 16mm f2.0 lens for the Aurora. Any other tips you can send my way? Thanks. Larry

I recently saw this quotation which seems appropriate here - “Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase.” Percy W. Harris

Larry

You keep saying that you respond to my questions, but I either don't get your responses or you refer me to some thread I can't find. There doesn't seem to be a place to search threads.

I have been a PN subscriber for 10 years, although the new site only credits me with nine, I suggest you listen to the frustration of your membership with this clumsy and difficult to negotiate site. The old site was user friendly. It was easy to communicate with PN peers. This site seems to be all glitz and no practical functionality. I have waited a while to complain, giving the site a chance with no avail. I have asked a few times for help in how to create new gallery folders and never got a response. I requested feed back for my comments, but not feedback for each of my PN colleagues that I follow. You clutter up my inbox. This site appears to have been set up for the PN administration to sell images, not with adequate attention and respect for the needs of your subscribers who keep the site in business. For now, I am sticking with PN because I value the connections I have made and expand with other photographers. To me PN is a learning and sharing opportunity. Unless you take measures to make the site user friendly as it was before, you will lose many of us. I suggest you read and heed the other negative responses from subscribers also. I'd like to know what you are planning to do to make the site more usable. Thanks.

Bob and JDM, Thanks for your input. You confirm my sense. Getting the best exposure in camera using ISO normally seems best and then tweaking it in Camera RAW in post is my procedure. I think I will stick with it. Bob, I will look at Lee Varis' book. We always need to learn more. Thanks to you both. Larry

Net R Thanks for your response and for the attached link. It is good to know that the D7000 is ISO invariant. I don't agree that I can get usable results straight away from the camera's display because as I have noted above, the images would likely be too underexposed. I couldn't understand the numbers in the chart you attached. Thanks, again. Larry

Josvan, I agree that it is the quality of the image as captured that matters most. With this invariance ISO, the captured images in the camera are likely to be grossly underexposed. The original capture on the camera's screen, as I understand it. would not be too useful for measuring the image's quality because it will be way too dark. This is why I want to get real experience from others who have used this technique. Thanks for reading my post and for your response. Larry

I just read a couple of Internet blurbs about ISO invariance. What is your experience with this? Would or do you trust that adding exposure in post processing will result in images as good or better than those created using ISO at the appropriate setting for the light conditions for your images? I've included one article on ISO invariance for your perusal. I use a Nikon D7000. I'm more than a little skeptical about this. I appreciate your input. Larry

 

http://improvephotography.com/34818/iso-invariance/

How do I create a new folder or gallery on this new PN site? The site is attractive, but not user friendly. Please advise on creating a new gallery folder. Thanks. Larry

I just purchased the Rokinon 16mm f.20 to use for capturing the Northern Lights this coming fall. It is a manual lens. Do you know if the read-out information in the viewfinder is dependable with this lens on the D7000? Or do I need to set the aperture using the aperture dial on the lens itself? This question goes for the shutter speed read outs as well. It seems that the settings are changing in the viewfinder as I change the back and front dials on the camera. Excuse me for what seems like an obvious silly question.

Thanks. Larry

Francis and All, I am a late comer on this issue. I just purchased a Rokinon 16mm f.20, which is a manual lens, for capturing the Northern Lights this fall. I had the same Fee error problem. Setting f6 to aperture ring resolved the problem. The newer electronic lenses seem to work OK in the aperture ring setting as well. Thanks, all for your input. Larry

Two questions: How do I delete photos from my portfolio? How do I create new gallery folders? Thanks. Larry