...and I mean SHAKEDOWN! This "trip" involved biking a mere 10 miles, taking four buses and a side-trip to the photo store.

It was a very auspicious beginning when (while crossing a bike-eating monster intersection) my messenger bag hastily draped over the handlebars jumped to its' near death and wedged itself inside the front wheel of the bike.

...and I mean WEDGED!

It's amazing how patient the motorists were while I disgorged it...


With only 30 seconds left before the bus was to arrive to whisk me to the Hall Rails to Trails Trail, I whipped out the camera to capture a log reflection on a pond hoping that the Green mode would not fail me. Yes, I have ventured into manual and AV modes but need my wits about me for those and the Green mode is just so handy.

Sadly, it was grossly over-exposed and even sadder, I am a novice in raw converting and post-processing. Heck the ink isn't even dry on downloading PE7 yet. Previously I only worked on Jpg fiels in PE 5.

A monster blowup from the 18-250 lens.

...and even sadder yet is that I didn't know there was a turtle on the long until I opened the file at home.

I need some serious help on post-processing and will be rumbling around the archives and generally annoying you with questions. Yes, yes, I know, my PRE-processing needs some serious help as well.

...but right now I'm off to the bike shop to investigate a front bike bag that doesn't try to commit suicide at busy intersections and a better means to secure my new Manfortto Monopod on the rear rack of the bike.

[timbo13]

sounds like a great adventure!

[pswann]

You might look into an Ortlieb handlebar bag. They are waterproof and tough as nails.

Ortlieb Ultimate 5 Plus and Ultimate 5 Classic Handlebar Bag

[res3567]

...and I mean SHAKEDOWN! This "trip" involved biking a mere 10 miles, taking four buses and a side-trip to the photo store.

It was a very auspicious beginning when (while crossing a bike-eating monster intersection) my messenger bag hastily draped over the handlebars jumped to its' near death and wedged itself inside the front wheel of the bike.

...and I mean WEDGED!

It's amazing how patient the motorists were while I disgorged it...


With only 30 seconds left before the bus was to arrive to whisk me to the Hall Rails to Trails Trail, I whipped out the camera to capture a log reflection on a pond hoping that the Green mode would not fail me. Yes, I have ventured into manual and AV modes but need my wits about me for those and the Green mode is just so handy.

Sadly, it was grossly over-exposed and even sadder, I am a novice in raw converting and post-processing. Heck the ink isn't even dry on downloading PE7 yet. Previously I only worked on Jpg fiels in PE 5.

A monster blowup from the 18-250 lens.

...and even sadder yet is that I didn't know there was a turtle on the long until I opened the file at home.

I need some serious help on post-processing and will be rumbling around the archives and generally annoying you with questions. Yes, yes, I know, my PRE-processing needs some serious help as well.

...but right now I'm off to the bike shop to investigate a front bike bag that doesn't try to commit suicide at busy intersections and a better means to secure my new Manfortto Monopod on the rear rack of the bike.

Nice photo!

[pardes]

A stiff pannier designed for the back racks works better than anything for the front of my bike. It's a very easy on and off, lightweight, and holds rain gear and other more lightweight stuff. A Manfrotto monopod is strapped down to the rear bike rack and a Trek turnk bag on top of the panniers works very well as a camera bag.

This pond is on the Chrisitana Hospital grounds. It's my frequent stopping place to eat a picnic lunch AND is only one block from both the bike store and the camera store.

This guy was standing at the water's edge when I pulled up on the bike. You should have seen me trying to dismount, turned off my flashing lights (a bit of overkill of lights on helmet, front of bike, back of bike EVEN in daylight), unzip the camera trunk bag, and get focused in two split seconds. No worry. It was a geriatric egret and he waited for me.

[Thumper]

Why are your pics over saturated and noisy (grainy?) Did you use high ISO?

[pardes]

Ummm, Well I'm having a bit of trouble with RAW conversion, PE 7, and figuring out why things don't look like I thought I saved them. I have a few wrinkles to work out. Also, I may not be saving them correctly (size, quality, setting) in order to post on forums. I'm working on it.

Oh and today only I did shoot at very high ISO...was testing it out and forgot to reset it back. So shoot me.

[res3567]

Oh and today only I did shoot at very high ISO...was testing it out and forgot to reset it back. So shoot me.

We don't want to do that. The pics look great. Sharp and contrasty. They,IMO, are beutiful pics in my eye. Even the log and turtle looks great. Keep on shooting and working with PSE7. You are doing just fine.

They're looking pretty good to me Pardes.
Nothing like an adventure to remember your first trip out with a new camera (remember that basket I mentioned in another thread and you thought I was joking?).
I've been to Burning Man a few times and I (and many people there) find them indispensable.

[daacon]

Nice shots Pardes and quite an adventure to go with it.

[gawan]

I very much like that bike setup!