andrewdryburgh

<p>Long time follower of this thread, 1st time poster. Simply amazing every wednesday. Bruce, I'm really enjoying your sunrise.</p>

<p>I finally captured something I thought would be worthy of this thread over the weekend. My family visited a children's museum in Pittsburg, PA. This is a shot of the ceiling in thier "art" room, which was a large dome about 2 - 3 stories tall with hundreds of red and orange streamers suspended from a grid up top.</p><div></div>

<p>Hmmm... this brings me back to my highschool days where it was reinforced repeatedly by the school that taking someone's work and using it without proper citation, whether intentional or not, was PLAGIARISM - one of the most serious offenses that could occur during your time as a student. Those caught plagiarizing would recieve a big fat zero on whatever project/report they had submitted.</p>

<p>Not sure what your school's stance on plagiarism is, but I can draw a couple of parallels between it and what happened with your photos. I would kindly point this out to the school's administration and see what they say. I doubt you'll get any money out of it, but maybe you'll get some credit somewhere, or maybe a free yearbook... yay. Good luck.</p>

<p>Christina - I want second that motion for the purchase of the 50mm f/1.8AF. I'm pratically in the same boat you are. I too have a D60, and like you, I'm new to the DSLR/SLR world of photography (picked mine up in late November). I also wanted a fast prime on the cheap. I was fully aware that the 50mm would not auto focus w/ the D60, but I said "what the hell" and picked it up anyway. I'm not sure if you are aware, but when manual focusing, the camera will let you know when the subject on your focus point is in focus (a little green dot appears in the bottom left-hand corner of your view finder). If you want to see this in action, just set your camera to "manual focus" via the camera menu, and move the switch on your kit 17-55g 3.5-5.6 lense from "A" to "M". This will give you an idea. Its not as hard as it sounds, especially when the camera cues you in when its in focus (check your manual for more details). Sure, this method isn't going to get you much with fast moving subjects, but as you stated you need it for some portrait shoots, you should be ok (I'm assuming your subjects will have minimal movement). Hell - I use it all the time on my kids (ages 2.5 yrs & 11 months). They never stop moving, but I still am able to get some great (in my humble opinion) shots. I've posted an example. I love to use it wide open.</p>

<p>I really recommend the lense. Can't beat the price, and the manual focus really helps you "become one" with the camera - it will teach you a lot!</p><div></div>

<p>I'm glad Jen and Matt picked up on the little bit of satire. Sorry to Frans and Bill if you didn't pick up on the sarcastic humor implied in the last paragraph of my post.</p>

<p>I have an observation/suggestion/question in regards to the many posts I have read commenting that in order for <strong>quality </strong>professional photographers to be competitive with the less skilled "budget" variety of photographer, the potential customer/layman must be educated as to what makes makes a good photograph as compared to a run-of-the-mill snapshot.</p>

<p>Now I know that there are many other important business factors involved in obtaining customers and being competitive, but for the purposes of this thread, I'm talking about customer education.</p>

<p>I've seen this comment posted quite frequently, and I wonder if any of you out there give a little basic photography overview to your potential clients. Or do you (even subconciously) already assume that they are somewhat informed? The reason that I ask this is that when my wife (then fiance) and I were shopping for photographers for our wedding, all 5 or 6 potential photographers went through the same spiel: here's my/our portfolio, here's the pricing, what are your preferences, what are you looking for? But not one even approached the subject of "just so you are informed, these are the basic properties that make an quality photograph, keep this in mind when you are looking for photographers."</p>

<p>At the time, I had absolutely no photography experience and had not shopped for a photographer before. I would most likely have gone with the person who seemed the nicest, had acceptable photographs (in my very uneducated opinion) and who could offer us the best deal. Fortunately, a good friend with some solid photography knowledge had previously schooled my wife and I in just the basics regarding what to look for, such as proper white balance, acceptable exposure, and good/bad flash techniques (mostly pointing out the harshness created with the direct in your face pop-up flash that we were desensitized to from our own family snapshots). Armed with this knowledge, we actually went with the most expensive photographer, but we felt secure that he was delivering a quality product, which was important to us (now that we were informed). I guess my point is that, yes, an educated public is important for the business of photography, do you ensure that your potential clients are informed? I did not experience this in my (limited) interaction.</p>

<p>As for my photography experience, I am just happy-go-lucky schmuck who picked up his 1st DSLR a couple of months ago, and I am enjoying it immensely. Just wanted to share my thoughts.</p>

<p>Also, on a side note - I offered to shoot a co-worker's wedding as they were looking to save some $$$. I figured I could do just as good a job as the other guys, as my mom always tells me that I take great pictures. I have a Nikon D60. Could you tell me how to shoot a wedding? What do I do?</p>

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<p>Thanks all for your comments and suggestions. I'll relay these to him and hopefully he'll see that there are some options (although he can be a bit stubborn at times, so we'll see). I'm going to push for the monocle and get him to work on his "American TV style German accent". He'll be a hit at all the parties!</p>

<p>Sarah - I know you comment is valid, but it has me cracking up! I just keep picturing Mr Peanut. I'm sorry, but I think that somewhere there is law stating that you must wear at least a top hat and use a cane when wearing a monocle. Thanks for the chuckle.</p>

<p>I agree with Tim - educating the potential victims to be aware of the surroundings would be the best prevention in this case.</p>

<p>Might as well just have everyone who purchases a camera phone sign an agreement that the item is not to be used for illegal purposes, it would have as much effect as requiring a sound when a picture is taken.</p>

<p>... unless, all phones would be programmed to say "PEDOPHILE ALERT!" when the shutter is released. Then no one would use them!</p>

<p><em>Term</em>: <strong>Blue Tool</strong></p>

<p><em>Definition</em>: "anyone who walks around in public with a phone earpiece" (blue tooth)</p>

<p>Rob - thanks for the link to that little gadget. It just might be useful!</p>

<p>Here's the dillema: My far-sighted (very poor vision at 1 meter and closer) father in-law recieved a nikon d60 during this past holiday season. He used to be quite the photography enthusiast many years ago, so his wife went out and purchased this for him as a surprise (she didn't get any input from him). He had expressed some interest in exploring what the digital SLR's had to offer, but he didn't let her know that HE wanted to decide what camera until after it was already purchased and passed the return-by date (which is far-gone by now). So now he is not happy with (and not using) the camera due to the fact that he has a lot of trouble viewing the LCD screen which shows the settings. He <em>does</em> own glasses (which unfortunately bring the foreground into focus and blur the background, vision-speaking), but he rarely has them with him. He also finds it to be a hassle to put his glasses on to fool with the camera settings and then take them off to look through the view finder, and repeat for multiple shots. I know one of the main reasons he is unhappy is that he is comparing this camera to his old Minolta SLR (unknown model) which he didn't have to look at, he just knew the settings by touch alone.</p>

<p>I'm looking for advice/tips from anyone who finds themselves in a similar boat. Also, although he may be reluctant to trade in an expensive gift from his well-meaning wife, can anyone suggest a DSLR that can accomodate his needs, such as in being able to control the majority of the functions with buttons and dials and not relying to heavily on the reading of small text on the LCD screen? </p>

<p><strong>Mike</strong>: salvage poor photos or produce better ones? I may be leaning towards producing betters ones to start instead of having to salvage poor ones.</p>

<p>I thought of one more item to add to the "would you rather" list. Maybe instead of photo editing software or a new lens, maybe a speedlight to explore different lighting opportunities...</p>

<p>In advance - thanks to all frequent users of this forum who post a wealth of knowledge. I have learned A LOT from just perusing the threads on p.net. I wanted to get a survey on your opinions regarding the following...<br>

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<strong>My Background: </strong>I'm a new DSLR user, merely a budding hobby at this point, but I'm loving every minute of it. I have been using a Nikon D60 w/ kit 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens since mid-November. I've been very pleased with the results that I've been getting. However, the artist and/or gadget-head in me has been itching to get a new toy. A small part of me wants to try and squeeze out a bit more sharpness/contrast from my photos, but I mostly want to play with a new toy and explore the creative opportunities it holds. I'm still in "saving up the $$$ mode right now", but I know that I with my budget I can either get some photo-editing software (photoshop or equivalent) or a new lens (I was thinking maybe the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S Auto Focus Nikkor Lens, but I have more research to do.) I have no experience with photoshop, but I am pretty computer-savvy and pick things up fairly quickly. As for what I am shooting, it's anything and anyone I find interesting.</p>

<p><strong>My Question:</strong> Knowing what you know now, if you were in my shoes and had a limited budget, would you spring for the photo editing software or a new lens of equivalent (or less) value? What software/lens would you choose?</p>

<p>Thanks for the fast (and detailed) response!!!</p>

<p>A quick (and rather uninteresting, I might add) question: Is one able to change or update photo titles/captions in p.net after the photo has been uploaded to their portfolio? If so, how?</p>

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