absent

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<p>...there will be a lot of dancing around.</p>

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<p>If you are going to be "dragging the shutter" during the dancing shots I suggest setting the flash sync to "REAR". You can do this on the "info" display by clicking on the flash mode icon (lower left corner I believe) and selecting "REAR" or "SLOW REAR". This way the flash will fire as the shutter closes, and you will get the effect of a sharp image trailing a "ghost". Try it and see how it works for you.</p>

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<p>This weekend I will be shooting a family event for a friend...Most of the event will be at night time, probably inside house lit up by regular light bulbs<br />Nikon D5100<br>

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<p>　<br>

You didn't mention what the people would be doing at the event. Are you mostly taking stills, or stopping action?<br>

For taking stills, I'd suggest the following: Use the camera's Auto ISO feature. Set base ISO to 100, max ISO 1600, and minimum shutter speed to the slowest you think you can safely handhold with the VR lens (1/30 or 1/20). Use P (Program) mode. This will probably be sufficient for a well lit room.<br>

　<br>

For darker areas, or to stop action, pop up the flash and select S (Shutter priority) mode. If stopping action you can run the shutter speed all the way to 1/200 (max sync speed). If you want to lighten the background (dragging the shutter) select a slower speed as WW suggested. Make sure the camera's flash mode is set to TTL so it will use the flash meter to set exposure.<br>

　<br>

This camera has both an exposure compensation and a flash compensation adjustment. Exposure comp makes the whole picture brighter or darker; flash comp varies the power of the flash. You can use these to govern foreground vs background brightness as well.<br>

　<br>

Above all else, take some test shots before the ones that count. If the people are willing, experiment with different techniques and go with what works best for you.</p>

<p>Closeup of the details in the crown. Folded copper foil was used instead of lead for these smaller pieces.</p><div></div>

<p>Up to four layers of glass is used in each pane, giving subtle variations in color and texture. The wings are made of ripple glass, giving the effect of feathers.</p><div></div>

<p>Last Sunday I went to an exhibition at a local university featuring seven meticulously reconditioned stained glass church windows, made by the Tiffany Co. in 1902.</p><div></div>

<p>I was thinking of using the Sunpak high and to one side as the key light, and the SB-600 as the fill. I have one of those Tupperware (Gary Fong) contraptions for the Sunpak, and thought about using a diffuser on the SB-600 and bouncing some light off the ceiling. I could remote the SB-600 as you suggest but would have to buy another flash trigger and a light stand (or third tripod).</p>

<p>Thanks - I suspected that was the case but appreciate confirmation. Neither the D5100's popup flash nor the SB-600 can be used as "commander" so I guess I'll have to go manual.</p>

<p>Any advice on setting multiple flash exposure using guide numbers, or is there a reference I should read? Should I, for instance, set each flash close enough to require f/4, and then stop the lens down to f/5.6?</p>

<p>I recently bought an optical flash trigger to fire a second strobe for a home portrait setup. I'll be using a Nikon SB-600 on my D5100 as the main flash. I know that pre-flashes from the TTL system can cause the slave flash to trigger early. My question is, can I get around this by using rear curtain sync? If the pre-flash triggers the slave early, will the shutter be opening already?<br>

　<br>

Or, will the slave flash foul up the flash meter reading so much that I must just use manual flash mode? Thanks for any help.</p>

<p>Here is the central monument in the National Cemetery (where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address) during the annual "Grand Illumination". Volunteers set luminaries at each headstone and along the pathways.</p><div></div>

<p>Here is the same memorial seen from the Union position that was its objective. The telephoto lens compresses the apparent distance, which is about 1.5 miles. 15,000 men attempted to cross this space; less than half returned after the charge failed.</p><div></div>

<p>Last weekend I attended the annual Remembrance Day observance at the National Battlefield in Gettysburg, PA. Here is the Virginia Memorial on Seminary Ridge, where "Pickett's Charge" stepped off July 3, 1863.</p><div></div>

<p>View looking east, reflecting the light of the setting sun to the west.</p><div></div>

<p>Closeup of a termite found inside one of the logs I split.</p><div></div>

<p>Last Saturday's work.</p><div></div>

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<p>By the way some of the improvements in the "Pro" models may seem only incremental but the price increase may be exponential. Well as with all things you have diminishing returns. You have to spend a lot more to push certain parameters just a bit further......Once you decide you want more fps or faster shutter speed you have to spend progressively more to engineer that stuff. To go from a shutter speed of 1/4000 of a second to 1/8000 of a second might not seem like much to you but I'm sure the costs involved go up substantially or else everyone would be doing it in entry level cameras.</p>

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<p>I wonder if that's strictly true, or if it's more a matter of amortizing the cost over a much larger number of units sold?</p>

<p>How many D5100's has Nikon made? Versus how many D4's?</p>

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<p>Seriously, do threads ever go south on this site?</p>

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<p>Well, there's the "Off Topic" forum...</p>

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<p>Can I not have a lucrative business, or amazing photos, or any amount of respect, just because I am using the $600 camera and not the camera that costs 10 times more?</p>

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<p>　<br />Well, take some amazing photos and we'll see!<br />　</p>

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<p>Are my abilities as a photographer and level of respect I can achieve things that are dictated solely by my pay grade?</p>

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<p>　<br />There will always be people in the world who will look down on you because you don't have the nicest clothes, or live in the nicest neighborhood, or drive the nicest car, etc, etc, ETC. The problem is usually something wrong with them, not with you.<br />　<br />Enjoy your d5100, I love mine! One thing I can't understand is why Nikon doesn't make any more "upscale" models with the articulated LCD. Is it a ruggedness issue? It sure helps with composition in awkward positions, and it helps to keep the screen clean as well.</p>

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<p>In our western capitalist marketplace, there is indeed no real place for careers that might explore the arts, philosophy, language, culture, etc...that is, exploring who we are as humans. There IS, however, a great place for jobs that generate products, buying and selling and consuming.</p>

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<p>A friend told me that when he graduated college in the early 1980's, the engineers chanted, "We got jobs! We got jobs!"</p>

<p>And the business majors replied: "Working for us! Working for us!"</p>

<p>And in one of the restrooms at my university, a sign hung over one of the toilet paper rolls:<br>

"Liberal Arts majors: Here's your diploma!"</p>

<p>Sorry if my previous comment sounded harsh. Maybe it's the light bulb reflecting in the book?</p>

<p>Mixed color lighting can be very challenging. If this camera allows it, maybe you can take a custom setting from a white object in the same lighting as the subject's face?</p>

<p>Hi Helmar,<br>

Here's an exercise you may find interesting.</p>

<p>Take both your cameras and choose a subject (maybe a building or tree) that nearly fills the viewfinder when fully zoomed in. Use a tripod if you have one for consistency; if not, line up the center of the finder on a prominent feature of the subject. Take pictures with both cameras fully zoomed in. Try to use the same ISO setting and a lens aperture which will give the best quality (probably f/8 or so). A bright sunny day is best so you can use a high shutter speed. Very important: Make sure both cameras are set to their highest image size settings.</p>

<p>Open both images on your computer screen and re-size them so each fills half. The Canon image should show the subject "bigger", because of the longer focal length (360 vs 300 mm equivalent).</p>

<p>Now, re-size both images to 100%. I'm betting the Nikon's image will show more detail because of the higher resolution (16 vs 9 MP). The sensors are differently shaped (4:3 for the Canon vs 3:2 for the Nikon), but the ratio of the short sides (3456 pixels Nikon vs 2592 Canon) is 1.26, which is greater than the 1.2 ratio of the equivalent focal lengths.</p>

<p>Put another way, the Nikon's sensor is 4928 x 3264 pixels. You can take a 3456 x 2592 crop (the size of the Canon's sensor) from this and it should show a little more detail than you get from the Canon. Plus you don't have to frame your shot as precisely. In practice, you can print an 8 x 10 at 200 dpi using 1600 x 2000 pixels, so if you can fill half the Nikon's frame with your subject, you should be good to go.</p>

<p>The Nikon has many other advantages which will become apparent the more you use it, including much better high ISO performance and faster autofocus.</p>

<p>I went through a similar exercise last spring when I bought the d5100 and 55-200 after using a Panasonic FZ30 for several years. After making this comparison, I haven't used the Panasonic since. I did buy a 70-300mm VR lens for longer reach at airshows, and would recommend it when you have the funds available.</p>

<p>Are you sure the second one was taken without flash? Sure looks like a flash reflection in the book behind the kid's head, and the shadows look harsh as well.</p>

<p>Taken through the open skylight of our vehicle while crossing the Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River in Charleston, SC last weekend. Another use for articulated LCD screens...</p>

<p>P.S. No, I wasn't driving...</p><div></div>

<p>Not much fall color left in the front yard yesterday after getting just the outer fringes of Sandy here in Western Ohio. What a difference a week makes...</p><div></div>

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<p>So in fact, an artist, (like anyone else) has only the rights he can defend. He may feel an <em>irresistible urge</em> for self-expression, but that is not a "right". Nor does he have "right" to "declare" anything, nor are his declarations binding on anyone else.<br>

I find that <strong>idea</strong> to be depressing, dehumanizing and oppressive. I do however recognize the historical authoritarianism from which this kind of idea arises, and I reject that whole enterprise upon Man, and hope for it's destruction in the very near future.</p>

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<p>The idea is merely a reflection on reality. I don't like repression any better than anyone else here. However, this is the way the natural world works; one eats, or one is eaten. How much artistic freedom do you have while looking down the barrel of a loaded gun?</p>

<p>Despite high-minded but unenforceable (and therefore useless) statements such as the UN Declaration, much of the world continues to be governed by repressive or totalitarian regimes. Their citizens (or subjects) have no rights, only priveleges. If art depended exclusively on "artistic freedom" these peoples could produce no art. Yet they do - for them "art" is a tool of the state, like everything else. Granted such art is often not very original and highly clicheed, but it's still art. Or if not, by what authority do you deny that it is?</p>

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<p>I made up this analogy owing to the hypothetical that Fred made about finding an object with no apparent artist present, and wondering if he could call it art since the unknown artist had obviously no opportunity to make claims about the nature of the object - as though he was dead, in other words.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>But Fred's artist wasn't necessarily dead, he was merely absent. So let us bury Jefferson before his heirs have a chance to sue.</p>

<p>In any case the question was apparently whether art is only art if the artist says so. I would say not - other people may find artistic value even if the "artist" (who may be a mere craftsman) did not intend any. Some people find machinery artistic, for example.</p>