katherinemichael

<p>Wow, this thread has been an eye opener for me. I understand how you feel about being a little "brush shy" when it comes to shooting after that kind of experience. I actually must confess that I haven't done any nature shooting this whole year thus far in part because of tick bites. The year prior, I was bitten by seven ticks. They weren't deer ticks, although I think we do have them down here in FL. Every one of the bites got a red, insanely itchy rash around it and took forever to fade, like months. The last one nailed me in the hip joint area and my lymph node got <strong>really</strong> swollen and sore. I went to the doctor, ended up on some antibiotics and 2X allergy meds per day. After that I was uninspired to go out into nature with my camera and take the risk of another bite. I should add that in all the instances I was bitten, I was wearing long sleeves, long pants tucked into my pants, a large brimmed hat and DEET repellent. I still picked up seven and that was just the ones that attached. I knocked many, many more off my clothes and camera. I am finally starting to miss being out there shooting. I will definitely be trying the permethrin this time out. When I first saw people mentioning it in this thread, I thought that I had never heard of it before, but then I remembered from when I kept horses that it is a major ingredient in many equine insect repellent sprays. </p>

<p>Anyway, I hope that <strong>you</strong> are feeling much better now. Just give yourself time to get better. I ended up focusing on tabletop macro photography for a while and now I am happy to have a different skill set and perspective to take with me on the trail. Take care. </p>

<p>Katherine</p>

<p>I did mean my Photo.net portfolio, sorry. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Okay...that's what I thought it seemed like. Thank you for the speedy replies. I'll just work around it. :) </p>

<p>Forgive me if this is a silly question. I looked all through my workspace, the FAQ and did a search in this forum, but didn't find an answer. I wanted to know if it is possible to nest folders within folders in my portfolio. For example, right now I have lots of small folders on individual topics, but I would prefer to have a few master folders on broader topics and have folders with sub-categories inside them. If someone could let me know about that I would be very appreciative. </p>

<p>In 2010 I am aspiring to the following photographic goals...<br>

1- To organize my images in a better way. Both my LR catalog and my negatives are a disaster. <br>

2- To carry my camera with me every day. I missed many photo opportunities last year simply because I didn't have it with me. <br>

3- To finish the Northern section of the Florida waterways project I started last year. <br>

4- To break out of my box and shoot different things. I want to do more portraits and get better at artificial lighting. <br>

5- To begin a new self portrait project that I thought of and developed last November and December while I was laying around sick. Sometimes just making time to think can really stir the creative pot.</p>

<p>I want to extend my best wishes to all for a happy and healthy 2010. :)</p>

<p>I can't speak for this particular Tamron lens, but I do own both Nikon and Tamron lenses. I have been very happy with sharpness and contrast of my Tamron lenses but the AF is noisy and slow. Both of them will hunt in bright daylight. I will admit to <em>almost</em> chucking both of them across the room on more than one occasion. I'm not sorry that I bought them because I needed lenses in those ranges and could not afford their Nikon counterparts. That being said, I shoot at least 2X a week and lots of that is wildlife. I have lost more than one shot to the Tamron's AF. Which brand will work for you really depends on what kind of shooting you do. Tamron is a good value for the money. Both of mine are well built and deliver nice images. The AF just drives me nuts. FWIW I have a Tamron 90 f/2.8 macro, Tamron 200-500 f/5.6-6.3, Nikon 50 f/1.8 & Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-5.6. I also used to have a Nikon 28-80 G F/3.5-5.6 and a Nikon 80-200 D f/3.5-5.6. </p>

<p>St. Augustine is awesome for shooting. Be sure to check out the light house. Daytona has some cool old motel signs to shoot and also has a nice lighthouse. I am in Gainesville, Fl and there is loads to shoot around here and the surrounding areas, like Micanopy and Cross Creek. If you want to see "old" Florida it is definitely a good place to go. In addition if you like to shoot wildlife, the Sandhill cranes have arrived in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park and should be here until February or so.</p>

<p>The all-weather cover of the Lowepro bags is a nice feature. I have never had rain enter my bag when using it. I will also pull it out when I have to set my bag down on damp/wet ground and change lenses or set other gear down that I don't want to get wet or dirty. Back when I was in college and just had all my gear wrapped in bubble wrap and stuck in my book bag I just used a trash bag. </p>

<p>I agree with Gary about sorting the slides and tossing the really horrible ones. That way the person who comes after you will not be so inclined to just toss the whole box after the first five they look at are rubbish. The only exception to that for me is photos of people. I have had a few occasions where there have not been very many photos of a family member who has since passed on. The photos that were in existence were blurry and poorly exposed but we loved them because those were the only photos we had. </p>

<p>I personally keep all negatives. I am the family hoarder of such things. They are just important to me in a way I can't really explain.</p>

<p>I use Lightroom 2.5 and it has worked well for me. I would suggest reading a book about the program and really thinking about how you want to arrange the catalog before you import a bunch of images. I didn't give it enough thought and my images are not as organized as I would like. Now I have to go back and fix it and that is going to be a pain. Perhaps you should download the trials for the top programs that you are interested in and do hands on testing before commiting. I like LR because it is nice to be able to organize my images and do basic editing all in one program. If you only want a organizational system then LR might not be for you.</p>

<p>I also use portable hard drives for back up that stay disconnected until I need them. I burn DVD's as well just as emergency last resort backups. In addition to backing up my LR catalog and master image files, I backup my RAW files straight from the memory card to their own external hard drive and DVD's.</p>

<p>I have an 8in Sony and I like it. Good contrast and resolution but as Ron said if it isn't eye level then the photos appear rather dark. I think that might be true of most digital frames in that price range. </p>

<p>Just an FYI for those who have Ovation TV in their cable or satellite lineup. This week is dedicated to photography programming. I watched a few interviews last night, very interesting and motivating. :)</p>

<p>My opinion is that every girl needs a fast 50mm in her back pocket...just in case. ;)</p>

<p>Seriously though, this is a great lens at a great price. I love mine. Everything mentioned above is well said so I won't repeat it, but if you have the cash I would grab one and see how you like it. Once you start using a faster lens you won't want to look back. Having that wide of an aperture opens up so many shooting opportunities. Plus the 50mm 1.8 is so light and small that it can be stashed anywhere and is easy to bring along. I have fit mine into a smallish handbag along with an extra battery and all my other girl stuff, slung my D200 with 18-200mm around my body and been good to go for a day of wandering around. If you keep your eyes open you can find a used one for less than $100 USD. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>I have found that by leaving the camera behind sometimes and consciously immersing myself in all facets of life through my vision, touch and emotion, I make better photos whenever I do pick up the camera again. </p>

<p>Check your local flea market and check the paper for estate sales. My dad used to collect old cameras and film. He found lots of old neg rolls at flea markets and estate sales. </p>

<p>I don't know if I'm allowed to post another but I felt compelled to go further with it. The first one was light and bright. This one is dark and moody. </p><div></div>

<p>I am not very good at this sort of thing, but I had fun. :)</p><div></div>

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<p>Oh, alright. It's kind of like the old tin types in a way, although this is obviously a different, modern process. I would be interested to see one. It seems expensive though. </p>

<p>Are you referring to prints done on metallic paper? If so, yes I have had prints made on it and it looks awesome with the right photo. Both color and B&W look good. Photos with vibrant color and/or good contrast do well. Try to pick something with a wide tonal range. </p>

<p>I don't know how helpful this is, but I decided to use FotoPlayer. I went ahead and bought the pro license for $89 (US). It is very customizable and has a shopping cart. I was able to customize it for my needs without any problem and I am very inexperienced with that sort of thing. It is available as a plug-in for Jalbum and a beta version for Lightroom was just released. <br>

<a href="http://www.fotoplayer.com">www.fotoplayer.com</a></p>

<p>If you want to see what I did with it <a href="http://www.prometheanstudio.com/albumBirds/">click here</a> .</p>

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<p>Thanks! </p>

<p>Matt- If you don't mind me asking...were you holding the flash or was it sitting on the ground with the tripod bracket as a base? </p>

<p>I have actually been using my SB600 off camera a good bit recently to light up the underside of trees that have seen completely covered with invasive vines, but I have been unhappy with the results because I couldn't figure out how to keep my D200 built-in flash from firing. After reading this last night I decided it had to be user ineptness and looked at the settings again. Happy to say I figured it out and will be crawling back under the vines, possibly later today. </p>

<p>Snapping turtles are cool. They remind me a little of alligators in how ancient they are. They just go about their business and really don't give two flips about humans. </p>

<p>Thank you so much for posting this. I can really put this information into good practice. </p>