I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. Maybe, you were a bit too abstract?

I haven't looked at prices lately but for $500 she may need to drop back to the 3 megapixel range and consider how much money she needs to spend on extra batteries, memory cards, tripod, etc... It's a bummer to blow your budget on a nice camera and then not be able to afford the extras that make it a usable tool. I would recommend patience and research. Most of the cameras on the market seem to be pretty good but if skin tone and color are important, she needs to focus in that area and read the reviews from the sites mentioned above. When shopping, you really need to decide what are the most important features to the type of photography you want to do and then concentrate on getting the camera that does those things the best. Good luck.

Well, if the clock is correct, it is actually 6:15 and the second one was taken about a minute after the first one. Like them both but I agree with Jordy, the bright light steals your eye. I think I like numero uno best because it does give you the feel of the whole city.

yeah, I suggest you get your name in the credits. looks like a great choice to me. the blue streaks top it off perfectly.

Nice job. I have to say #1 is the fav for me, the glow of the light is great.

... and with an elbow to die for. How did you ever figure out my most secret fetish. Back on topic - I think it is a great idea. Yeah, the one that can generate trhe most hits with a thumbnail that links to nothing sexual, erotic, etc.... Have you noticed how many hits no thumbnail at all can get? If I do a subject like "my sister's butt" with no thumbnail. I'll bet you it hits 200 in 24 hours. I guess you could take a picture of a crushed out cigarette for an actual photo. But - back on topic again - When you get right down to it, who cares? In the website game, like most others, it's more a matter of getting them in the door than it is a matter of providing a great quality product. The numbers matter to advertisers because volume is exposure. Once you do get them in the door - then you can give them some actual "art" and who knows, if they are at all normal, they'll probably like it.

My experience with digital in dark is that you can't get the shot without the noise. That Neat Image program that 'chelle passed on info about does a good job of cleaning out noise. It's free and it works pretty well.

Humm, boring you say? In my opinion, the bird is fine the way it is. Black & white is a good choice for that shot. One thing black & white does though, on a shot like the flags, is make the impact more subtle. The left pine tree is a distraction. Maybe you could take the shot again more from the left side, of course then, you will need a wind that comes from a different angle to make the flags look full. You can do a lot of postwork with PhotoShop or something to mask areas or soften the background trees so they are less detailed. Do you have a good photo editing program? I guess there are two ways to look at it. You can either attempt to make the photo perfect with the angle, light, setup, etc ... when you take it or after you take it with a photo editor. You can't take a shot that isn't there but you can build one. It depends on what you want as the final result.

Both shots look good to me. If you want some serious critique, show us some of your mistakes where you don't know what went wrong.

I love it. A genuine Mr. Wizard. If you have some Christmas lights, lay a wad of them under the glass as the light source and you should get some great color effects.

Interesting shot. Looks like an oil painting.

These seem a bit better than the previous three. The detail looks better and they are a bit brighter. It looks like condensation on a glass? Very creative.

I like three the best. OK, so how did you do it? All in all, I think they are still a little too dark. You have some great 3d effects going here. I'd like to see some variation in colors. What was you light source?

Having a hard time accepting change, huh? Nice shot, night is harder to do. Interesting how the green of the grass reflects back onto the street. Did you try that "Neat Image" program on this, the one Michelle mentioned a few posts back? It does a pretty good job of smoothing out the fuzzy noise in the sky. BTW, thanks Michelle, that is a great program and free is my favorite price to pay.

Michelle, your rules are good but some examples of what is and isn't would be helpful.