john_valjean

<p>My old flashes died on me, and instead of repairing them I like to buy a new setup. In the past I used the strobes mainly for my kids's portraits and they worked great. I used 2 of them most of the time. Now, I volunteer to take team pictures of basketball local team and lighting at the gym is a bit challenging. Can you guys recommend a setup, I am looking to stay under the $600 range. Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>nice shots Joe, looks like you had good seats (considerably), if you don't mind me asking, I saw grains in your pics and I know you did crop, what ISO were you using? I run into the same problem with my 60D at the 3200 borders in such lighting conditions. Thanks ...</p>

<p>@Rob, i think you missed the point of my post, and I will use your example, you made a great meal for your friends, they came and ate and left and did not even say thank you, or wow that was a good meal. then they take you to a fast food place and are in awe of the sight of the inferior food.<br>

I was not in this to make money, and I would never take money from my kid's friends parents for something like this. I am hurt because it would be nice to say to someone thank you for giving you something superior to what you love to get in sub quality and pay for it.</p>

<p>Hello all,<br>

I think my ego is hurt a bit. My kids play hockey and I take pictures of their games, I make sure to take pictures of the whole team and players and I always share with parents. Never one person said thanks. OK fine. last week we went to a tournament, and there was couple of guys with cameras that showed up to each game and took bunch of pictures, loaded them on PC with touchscreen displays for parents to see right after the game. The pictures sucked, some are blurry, some our of focus, some need to be cropped etc. Honestly my pictures are 200% better, modesty apart. Parents got so excited and started to ask if the team wants to buy these pictures at ridiculous prices, some of them in fact did. <br>

<br />I was really hurt, I mean here I am sharing awesome shots of the kids for free, but parents are getting excited for bad pictures and they are paying for them????<br>

<br />So if I charge them for my pictures, then my pictures would be better ????</p>

<p>Hi all,<br>

Any recommendation on what I can shoot in Longmont/Boulder area, can't make it to Breckenridge, I have to stay in the area. Denver is also an option, thanks for any advice ...</p>

<p>I am googled couple of things and other sites, but I am looking for some hints from photographers not tourists ...</p>

<p>Thanks Bill, if it is not raining I will be outside, or else I will follow your indoor places. By the way, are these places safe for a ... tourist with a photography backbag ...?</p>

<p>Hi guys,<br>

I will have an afternoon in Grapevine (Dallas Texas) to kill, can someone from the area recommend couple of places where I can go take some pictures. My first preference is to do something outside, but if it is not possible then indoors will have to do. Please let me know what you recommend, thanks ...</p>

<p>Hello all,<br>

just for the sake of closing the topic and helping someone else with the same question. I ended up buying the 70-200 F4L IS. I know it is more money but long term it is a better buy at least for me. Again, thanks for all your responses and help.</p>

<p>Thank you all for the valuable feedback you have provided. I am using a 60D crop sensor camera. Currently I am using my 70-300mm IS lens and I have been lucky with enough light in the arena where my kids play. They are Mites so they are not super fast on the ice yet. I still have to do some post processing on the ones I keep and print.<br>

<br />I will have to think about it more since there is some serious cash involved in this, F4 vs F2.8 vs F4 IS. Thank you again since now I have the technical feedback to make my decision.</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

is it worth it to pay the extra $400 to get IS on this lens? it will be mainly used to take pictures of hockey players skating in a hockey ring, thanks ... Most likely I will be using 1/320 or faster shutter. </p>

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<p>HI guys and thanks for all your inputs they really helped.<br>

I did take the trip and I like to share with you what I did, hopefully it will help someone else planning such an adventure. Please remember what I will say is from a pure personal perspective and it is not meant to offend anyone.<br>

London is an awesome city and there are so many things to see and do, I was really impressed, but it was also very expensive even compared to the European standards.<br>

OK so here my timeline:<br>

* landed at 6:45 and cleared the customs by 7:30 (yes it takes a while to clear the customs due to the long line). I did not have any bags to claim, I only had carry on.<br>

* put my luggage at a storage place in the terminal. the cost was about 10 pounds for the whole day.<br>

* Talked to the transportation/information desk and I was advised to take the tube instead of the train, since both ladies said at the end the time will be the same. Big mistake, I bought an all day pass cost about 18 pounds (it would have been cheaper if I ordered after 9 or 10AM). The train stopped at a million places and it was packed since everyone was heading to work. it took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to Picaddeli Circus.<br>

* I started with the Picaddeli square, I was so disapointed because I though I was in chicago or new york with all the american stores around.<br>

* I walked to Trafalgar Sq spend about 20 min or so, did not go into the gallery. continued on Strand street all the way to St Paul. In the way I stopped at multiple monuments and buildings etc, one of them was the court of justice.<br>

* next I went inside the St Paul and spent about 30 min or so, the most upstairs was closed but I was able to go up to the middle circle floor, the grotto etc<br>

* next I headed toward the Tower of London and along the way I stopped by the monument tower and multiple buildings etc.<br>

* got to the London bridge and walked around, then visited the bridge (it was a long walk), I did not go to the top. Then I went in the subway and took it to Westminster station.<br>

* got out and saw the victoria tower, parliament, etc, I kept walking next to the parliament to the other end.<br>

* next I went to the park and the mall, took it all the way to the arch, then headed back from the other side to the Palace. Walked around the palace, then went back to Victoria Station.<br>

* by now it was already 3:15PM so I headed back to the airport got my car and drove to Birmingham.<br>

couple of notes: I ate mostly while walking I bought a sandwish and chocolate bars. There was construction everywhere, some squares were ropped off or the building covered with plastic. again Leicester could not be toured due to this. Some streets were roped off so you had to make detours. Red buses all over the place and hinder you from taking clean shots. All in all I took probably around 400 pictures total. I can post in Picasa and provide a link but I am not sure if this is allowed on this site.<br>

Again thanks all for your help. Next time I go to London, I will section it off, meaning since now I have seen the global overview, next time I will pick a section and stick with it.</p>

<p>thanks Jeff for the quick reply. I have only been to London once long time ago. So what I like to see is the major landmarks like the Big Ben etc. I don't have time to spend inside the museums or indoors, so I like to walk the streets and look for historical buildings monuments etc. By the way, what train should I take from Heathrow to downtown. Also I am renting a car, but I figured to leave it at airport until I am ready to leave London, I can take the train back. My final destination is Sunderland, so I figured I would drive by 4/5PM and spend My Monday in London.</p>

<p>Hello, looking for some advice, I am landing in Heathrow at 7:30AM, and I will have until 4/5PM. Can someone give me some tips on where to go to take some pictures, I am taking my camera with me on this trip and I don't mind walking around and taking some shots. Thanks ...</p>

<p>Thanks to all the replies. I did take the trip, unfortunately I did not have as much time as I wanted, but in 4 nights (6-9PM) this is what I was able to do (take pics):<br>

Afternoon 1: San Fran (Fisherman's Wharf, couple of piers next to it, coit tower, golden gate bridge, botanical garden, a catholic cathedral next to the street that leads to the tower (can't remember the name), golden gate bridge beach and trail.<br>

Afternoon 2: Standord campus, downtown palo alto<br>

Afternoon 3: Winchester house, downtown san jose (Santana row)<br>

Afternoon 4: santa cruz, beach, beach walk, downtown<br>

Afternoon 5: mission church santa clara university, bay trail, you get to see the nasa bldg at a distance, google.<br>

Bad news is I made the biggest mistake a photographer does, I did not download my pics on a daily basis and my PNY Pro 16G crapped out, used 10 recovery SW and none of them worked.</p>

Hello,

I need an advice on what bag (back pack) to buy when you are visiting a city and you spend hours touring and

taking pictures. I have a sling shot bag but after an hour or so my shoulder starts hurting. I like to have a

small/medium size back pack that I can put some snacks, an extra shirt, a bottle of water, extra zoom lens and

the 60D with 18-125 lens. Thanks in advance.

<p>I will be spending a week in Santa Clara and usually have the afternoon open. Anyone from the area can recommend places where I can go shoot in that town or in Sunnyville? thanks ...</p>

<p>good morning, I know the L lenses topics are all over the place, but I like to ask a question from a "regular" user perspective. I don't own any L lenses but I had the chance to use couple of them for couple of days, I used the 24-105IS and the 70-200F4. Currently I have the 18-135IS on my SLR body and I always have my 70-300IS. I compared visually (not using any tools and no technical analysis), I did not see a difference between the pictures taken from all 4 lenses. Some pictures of course are better looking than others but that is due to the content of the picture. So my question is this, if I only look at pictures on my PC screen and I print 4x6, are there really this major differences between the L lenses and the cheaper one? again, please understand that this question is from a novice photographer that almost exclusively takes pictures of his kids running around ....</p>

<p>Hello forum members, so today I had a dilemma, I was with the family at a park and was taking candid pictures of my kids running around, then I noticed a random stranger sitting in a really beautiful way, I looked through my lens and it was a really beautiful framed picture, but I did not click the button and never took the picture. I told my wife about it and basically stated that I did not feel comfortable taking the shot. So she asked me how would I feel if a stranger takes her picture. it made me think a little bit. Is it moral or ethical or appropriate (notice the categories count down) to take pictures (of course candid pictures) of strangers and share them or post them online? I like to hear some opinions, thanks for sharing.</p>

<p>Hello, need an advice on buying a new lens versus buying a refurbished one through Canon, depending on the lens model usually the saving is about $100. Is it worth it or it is better to buy new? any experience to share or advice to offer? thanks ...</p>

<p>thanks to all for the valuable feedback, the UV is coming off ...</p>

<p>quick question, would it make sense to place a polarizer on top of a UV filter, or it is better to remove the UV filter first, thanks ...</p>

<p>Thank you all for your advice and responses.<br>

I looked on the internet for a T2i and it was hard to find one, but I did find one for around $700. It arrived today and I am charging the battery. I did not have the chance to play with it yet. I will keep you posted.</p>

<p>Hello all, need some help, I have never took portrait pictures for anyone outside my family. I have a good friend that his daughter is graduating and he asked me if I can take her pictures. Can you please recommend places (nature, parks, lake, etc) and what poses (standing, sitting, etc) I should do to give her a good portfolio? thank you.</p>

<p>Hello all, I did my homework and I like to hear some opinions. Situation is simple: I had an XTI for the last 4 years, surrounded by 50mm F1.8, 28-135IS and 70-300IS. Mainly usage is to take picture of the kids. All had been well, until I had to use the camera in door for my kids graduation at school. I bumped the ISO to 1600 (I know the quality of the pic is bad, and grainy and ...) but that was the only way for me to take a picture. All shooting is handled since I can't (not allowed) to use a tripod or a monopad or a flash.<br>

Long story short, I am thinking to upgrade the body for a more high forgiving ISO to be able to take these pictures, I still need to use a variable lens so prime will not work for me. I need your advice on 2 fronts:<br>

1. is it better to keep the body I have and invest with a better lens<br>

2. upgrade the body and still using the lenses I have.<br>

My budget is around 1500$ after all said and done. Thank you in advance.</p>