That is a sweet picture! I love the pitcher's tongue sticking out! I can definitely see some noise.

In a recent Popular Photography they announced the top-of-the-line Canon dslr was the only camera they could find that surpassed film. The took 2 identical pictures and blew them up really large and compared a 1 square inch section revelaing the digital camera was only slightly sharper. But at the time you could get the dslr for the price a really decent used car($16,000 or so)!

That's amazing! Earlier this week I was lucky enough to have a robin couple visit and I got shots of them that didn't turn out too well but you can tell they are robins.

I take a few at a time max. Of course I also use film so I have a cost factor, too. The most pictures I've taken of one subject is around 15 for a sunset that kept getting better and better.

I never considered using auto after my first night shot attempt that would not focus. The great thing is it should tell you when something is in focus even though it might not be able to achieve the focus on its own.

Incarnadine, don't take things so literally. Just because you know what the Holy Grail of art isn't doesn't mean the Holy Grail even exists. I know a car isn't a time machine but that doesn't mean a time machine exists. Those big time movies are just a few very prominent examples of what kind of 3D art is selling. Other similar but smaller-scale art of the same type is selling very well, too. No one wants a plain square building, so there is plenty of room for art there, too. Nudity does not necesarily equal porn. Sexuality CAN be a means to art but it SHOULD NOT be the ONLY one. To me, art is good when I can look at something other than the subject and still be intrigued. Sure, a vicky might be in some neat revealing clothing and lit by some advanced lighting but the chains and everything else haven't been paid that same amount of attention. I think that might be the point of this whole discussion.

I hardly ever look at the thumbnail more than a glance and move on. I'm looking for great images. Unfortunately some of the images that look great judging from the thumbnails have vickies with 6-packs. Hello! The only women I've seen with 6-packs are body builders. Personally, I prefer a toned midriff to a ripped one. The ones with 6-packs scare me.

My area doesn't have any hi-res images like above. It's just patches of green though I have no idea where the green came from. It's pretty dry here.

I have a DOF calculator on my PDA and it seems that the closer the focus, the shallower the DOF. Taking a picture of a mountain can yield miles of sharp detail whereas taking a macro of a flower can yield inches, if that. Without a macro lense I find I can actually make a subject larger with my 300mm telephoto. I have to stand five feet farther away but the subject is actually bigger than with my standard lense.

Just thinking, if it is a space ship the bottom is a giant blindspot for the lasers. If there is more than two ships engaging this one one of the ships just has to distract the lasers while the other fires away at the bottom.

The smoke(or steam) usually seems to be coming from the base of the flames, not right at the bottom of the rocket.

That pathway looks pretty slick and treacherous to me. I wouldn't try to go down it with lots of other people that have the same idea, escape.

An update on my slides: The only place that doesn't go "Huh?" when I mention slides has a contract with a place in Florida, several states away from home, so I will be lucky to get them in a week.

They'll be expensive. They're actually cheaper to process than regular film but I don't have a slide scanner so it'll be a few dollars more. I really wish I had a DSLR, especially the Rebel XT. It's basically my Rebel T2 turned digital. One complaint I heard here is getting the firework as it explodes but all you have to do is listen for the launch and give it a couple seconds to get high and open the shutter. So what if you open early, the sky is dark.

I can't wait to get mine back from the processing center. I did everything manually: focus(doesn't change anyway), zoom, aperture, and shutter. I ran out before the finale but some of the slides(Professional Fuji 100) should be quite full of fireworks. I sat on top of the car with my girlfriend holding the remote so I expect some of the fireworks to be cut off, but hopefully I will get some good shots.