Vickie

oops sorry guys, I changed the permissions on it accidentally. sorry to disappoint you now that you can see it . They were just quick snapshots...hardly worth waiting for.

I like the 70-300 for action...but I would love a faster lense. Right now I can go much bigger than F8 & would love to be shooting at F4 or 5. Here is a quick lense test. I put it on aperture priority & just swapped lenses. All are at F9, except the bottom right which is at F4. I will leave it to someone more knowledgeable to explain why they look different ETA...not really a true comparison, I just realised that I spot metered them all except the top left which is matrix...so I really should redo that one...but couldn't be bothered

I bought my 50mm 1.8 from Ebay for $100. I love it! It is by far my favourite lense. I will take the same pic today with my 3 lenses & put them up so you can see the differences. I have an 18-70, 70-300 & 50mm. I use them all for different things.

scary? BTW I have been charged by one & it WAS scary!!!

Rocco, they are beautiful . I went through an Eastern Water Dragon stage...it's all I took photos of for days at a time. They are beautiful in a scary prehistoric kind of way . Will see if I can find some. In the meantime here is a goanna, lace monitor I think? and a ?whatever this is

One of my favourite photographers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnydaystudi...57605027147422/ He has 2 white standard poodles and an AMAZING ability to capture them. If I had lots of money I would fly to Canada & take lessons from him, photography & photoshop (and I would LOVE to cuddle his beautiful girls).

Thanks for posting Persephone. Interesting reading & beautiful images

I agree, nothing wrong with that. (but I am laughing at Luke ) white dogs & harsh sun are always tricky. Come practice on my lot whenever you want!

I am constantly amazed at how much an image can change with some adjustment in curves & variations in hue. I took this pic the other day & thought I might have a play with it. The top left is basically off the camera, the others are adjusted Original

You can switch from one to another on mine...with each pic you take.

I'm going to play devil's advocate & say that for beginner photographer it doesn't much matter. I have Nikon, b/c that is what my husband bought. If he had bought canon, that is the way I would have gone as far as loyalty...it's that simple for me. I have a D70s that I literally wore out & now have a D300. I could have kept going on the D70s for another 2-3 years probably and would be still learning how to get the best out of it. I don't think my shots are heaps better with the D300 than they were with the D70s, but I can see a gradual improvement in my skill that is not camera related. While I was between cameras I had a play with a small digital. It was kind of fun & yes, the longer I used it, the better I got with it. In the end I was getting some consistently good shots. There are so many AMAZING shots around taken with cameras of lesser value. I love some of the functions on my D300, but I am sure I am still only using about 20% of it's capabilities...the other 80% will come with time, experience & expertise.

LOVE IT!!! YOu could so easily sell this pic!

Tadpole, Your shots of Abbey are priceless....just what you would expect a dog to do with Christmas things Beautifully presented too

I especially love this one tlc...would make a lovely card. Glad to see you're getting into PS...it's addictive isn't it!

how cute is Texas!

I don't really understand the question. Are you concerned this will escalate into fights? Are you asking if this happened b/c they went on the same night? My bitches are bitches to my boys, but I rarely interfere & it's just general bossiness. I'm not worried about it, nor am I worried about which one of them seems to be the boss, b/c it varies depening on situation/location/resource and does not impact anything enough for me to worry about. How old is Poppy?

I am not sure what breeds I would like to trial. I will probably never go past the Border Collie, they are pretty much everything I want in a dog. I have some other breeds that I would like to own one day...a saluki, an afghan, a whippet, I always wanted a boxer, I would like to try a kelpie one day, and a papillon, and a JRT, and a Brittany. Hmmmm, I think I have nearly covered each group. I am curious to know how many ISDS type BC's you know & what you think the difference between them & the ones out in the sticks is? I'm guessing either you don't know too many or your are making assumptions about purity.

Here's one I took of my niece this afternoon. My sister is so mean...all her Christamas decorations either look like pressies or candy canes . Very confusing for a little one Nikon D300, 50mm 1.8 F4.5, 1/60, Flash

I agree, given the shutter speed, I think you did a great shot of holding it so still... my hand is nowhere near that steady. Your manual focus looks good to me as well. I spent all day yesterday taking product shots. I had a few shots where the camera struggled for focus with some of the darker products and ended up either finding some lines or switching to manual. Another thing I do quite a lot is to lock the focus the camera on the point you want & then frame your shot. Sometimes your lense will also zoom in & out when you are too close to the subject for that lense.

your layers palette looks like mine. I love that last one, what a life for a dog!

Shame on you Sam. You DO need instruction, we all do. Never underestimate the help experienced people can give you at training. I do as many classes & seminars as I can. Sometimes I already know what I am being taught but I have never been to a class or seminar where I haven't taken something away from it. yes, it is good to use the equipment but learn as much as you can, there are some great trainers in QLD...make the most of them! and you thought you could escape my nagging by moving to another state

not stupid at all Rosie. Most clubs require a certain level of obedience before they will let you start agility, so it is a perfectly natural assumption. While many good agility dogs do have a great level of obedience, most are not formally trained in obedience beyond beginner level. There are certainly some, but I would say the majority of very top agility dogs do not have obedience titles and there are very few dogs who have achieved the highest titles in both sports.

I agree. You could start by feeding her her dinner every day from your right side. If she is responsive to praise, make sure you use a tonne of that as well. Be creative...stand behind her & feed her from each side, throw food to your right side, lure her along with a wall on your left & her on your right etc. It's only been a couple of days, you will probably need to be very patient initially & suddenly things will click into place.

nothing has changed in the agility rule book yet & will not change until at least June 1st 2009. Schedules as posted on Agility list is: Nov./Dec. ANKC Administrator to distribute all submissions received to all Member Bodies for their perusal. Jan. Member Bodies to examine the submissions and prepare for the Conferlink. Feb, (Date to be advised) ANKC Agility Conferlink. March Final Draft of Rule Changes agreed at the Conferlink to be completed by the National Committee and submitted to the ANKC Administrator. May ANKC ratification (via electronic approval process). June 1st. Effective date for new Rules.

yep, it can work. My boys are 5 months apart in age, same breed & size. They are 11 now. My girls are 2 years apart, same breed, & size. I had a couple of very minor issues with the boys when they were younger, but really I put it down to my bad management & lack of knowledge. Never had an issue with the girls.