[Curious]

Sam’s was selling the Nikon cool pix L18 for $90 before Christmas. to no ones surprise they ran out of them.

http://www.nikoncoolpix.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-Camera/25597/COOLPIX-L18.html

My brand new toy, Nikon D80, this this just once.

i’ve had that happen sometimes where downloading. or perhaps i should say i’ve seen that when downloading. i (almost) always use a card reader to download images since it’s much faster than from the camera(s). can’t remember just what cameras it happened on but not the DSLR.

[Curious]

Your fsm profile links from the theme name to the theme, which gives you the date.

so it does, thanks. the first one i checked was from a folder called “stairs” which it turns out was a contest called “up and down” 🙂 close enough for me.

[Curious]

Qualifications: name the contest;

just looked in my images file and have a lot of folders named for old contests full of rejects. difficulty is that i have no idea when the contests were originally. so stating the contest name = easy. date = not so much.

from the comments above this shouldn’t be a problem but wanted to check first.

[Curious]

forgot to mention i have a set of these

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Kenko-Extension-Tube-Set-Review.aspx

and while they aren’t really a lens they are a great add-on.

[Curious]

My current telephoto lens is a Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6, but that is a cheap/poor lens.

when i bought my maxxum 7D that lens was out of stock at whatever discount camera place i stumbled on and they shipped me the 75-300 f/4-5.6 instead. it was cheap and while i won’t say poor it won’t win any prizes. it’s a film lens and on my DSLR has a 1.5 crop factor the merits of which you all can debate.

i have found that to produce critically sharp photos takes both a lot of light and a mono pod. OTOH it’s the first lens of that length i’ve had so i may be unduly harsh in what i expect of it. there is also the chance that the camera/lens auto focus is a bit off. testing auto against manual produced inconclusive results.

when i was shooting film i usually had a 70-210 mounted on the camera. with this camera and lens combo i find that doesn’t work as well and keep the 18-70 on most times instead.

the 18-70 is a konica minolta kit lens AF DT 18-70 f/3.5-5.6 and while adequate obviously needs a fairly bright day too. oh, and it’s also a film lens so there’s that whole crop thing.

i’m a minolta fan boy but will admit that i’m less than blown away by their digital stuff.

i did have Soligor zooms for the film cameras and they were great but since they are no longer made …

[Curious]

This is our home-built rig (the cats have apparently been on the table again…)

http://65.78.140.207/TF/mypics/lightbox_rig.jpg

I’ts pretty simple but it seems to work well.

does that knock down or is it fixed/glued together? darned good idea with the diffusers.

[Curious]

wow. what the hell kind of machine?

it is very similar to this one. http://www.davesweblife.com/images/stuff%20for%20friends/finger2.jpg see the red arrow. there was a two hole punch/die in the machine at the time. the good new is that the die length kept the machine open some. the bad news is i got two small holes to go with the broken bone.

[Curious]

before i forget ……. thanks for the well wishes re the finger. it was surprisingly less painful than it looks. hardly worse than a bad paper cut staplermofo 🙂

[Curious]

One thing you might want to try is pulling the backdrop forward a bit to make the transition from horizontal to vertical less noticable.

what i really need to do is iron it before taking any pictures. it stays folded a lot more than it gets used.

and as others have noted the lights are a bit weak. and it’s only good for little stuff. but it was [strike]cheap[/strike] reasonable and ok for what it is. two of tonight’s were shot with the added light in front and the last one (3/3) with the added light on top.

[Curious]

hi folks, how you been?

i used this setup http://www.davesweblife.com/images/stuff%20for%20friends/studio-setup.jpg for tonight’s shots with good results. or i like them, we’ll let the voters decide how good they are 🙂

the folding studio is here http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Concepts-Ps-101-Portable-Lighting/dp/B000FBF400 but i got mine at wal-mart for $25 when they cut the price in half. at what i paid it’s a good deal.

the light laying in front is part of this kit http://www.davesweblife.com/images/stuff%20for%20friends/video-light.jpg which i recently picked up at goodwill for $5.00. i have no idea how old it is and can’t find any info on the web about it. if any of you can point me toward some it would be appreciated.

as to how i’ve been, well these will tell you. http://www.flickr.com/photos/57055068@N00/ not for the squeamish. managed to leave my finger in a machine at work just a bit too long. but its healing nicely and i should be back at work after the new year.

[Curious]

happy thanksgiving to one and all.

SilverStag and JPatten i really like the continuity of your shots that start at 08:03:04 about the fireworks.

[Curious]

Well actually, if you want to get technical, crocodilians, turtles, and birds are no longer included in the Class Reptilia – they have been assigned their own Classes: Class Aves for birds, Class Eusuchia for crocodilians, and Class Chelonia for turtles. The Class Reptilia now only includes lizard, snakes, and Sphenodontids (tuataras).

I’m, of course, a giant nerd and you should probably just ignore me and possibly point and laugh too.

I can’t believe there’s going to be a reptile theme!!

thank you for that. i had either a brain fart or a senior moment and decided that my turtle pictures wouldn’t qualify for this week. so image my chagrin when i view the contest and find turtles. then i check the ultimate authority (wikipedia) and it tells me …. ooopsy.

in any case it was a great contest with loads of wonderful photos.

hi millera9 welcome back. you done good with your returning entries.

[Curious]

Agree… Mardi Gras counts

thanks for the feedback but i ended up with too many as it was after all. the picture i had in mind was this one

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57055068@N00/2945562459/

catching the cup in mid air was luck.

[Curious]

SilverStag does mardi gras count as a fair? i realize that “street fair” would be pushing the limits here and won’t be the least bit upset if you say no.

it is refereed to as a carnival too 🙂

never mind i have too many choices already 🙂

[Curious]

I’d say that was a fair, yes.

well i’m glad you included ren fairs since i will have an entry or two now.

ironically (or perhaps coincidentally) a friend called last night and mentioned she would be going to a local parish fair today. unfortunately i don’t have the time to go with her. and it’s the only local fair and one i’d hoped to be able to use for this contest.

[Author]

Posts