I saved...sold my caravan and now have a proper camera....:-)
Only got it today and am itching to use it BUT I'll have to have a read through the manual (for once in my life) before I use it...The battery is charging and all the dogs are hiding...(They know me well) especially Freeway since he is the one who usually ends up wearing silly get-ups...:-)

My son wants to use it as well and I've had to wish him good luck with that..:-)

Anyway not that important but so excited I had to tell someone besides the hubby n kids...:-)

Cheers

So go on then, more info, what did you get?  U R better than me I just charge the battery and start playing LOL.

Got a Nikon D5000...it came with two lenses (one macro), a bag, memory card, two UV lens filters and 40 free prints...I am planning as I type to encourage my "model" to pose....good thing he is very cheap...:-)

Wow nice peice of kit! I had a canon 400D but recently it has decided to die on me *big sad* so I ned to look for a new one. I can't wait to see some shots!

Hey you'll have to join YOP so we can see the photo's!

I second that, fantastic friendly site :)

What is YOP?

Not sure what it is....but I took a few pics of Freeway last night and as ever he performed for me...:-)

I'll put the link up in my profile...:-)

It's a photography forum :)

www.yophotographer.com

Those pictures of Freeway are lovely!

Ta for the links and compliments...:-)

I had him up on the desk working for his squeaky toy and soft treats....

I think he should be in magazines...:-) He is so photogenic...:-)

Cheers

Wanted to add another photography forum that I am using at the mo....very helpful and friendly...lots of advice...

Talk Photography

I like it alot...

I used talk photography too, its very good

I'm on that one too but not posted on there yet, will have to at some point!

They're all really good but I love the black and white one - I think b&w is so expressive.  Did you change the colour in edit or is it an option on the camera to change colour?

I changed it in Photoshop...
I love the B&W for Freeway...he looks good in them all but B&W is special...
I've only had the thing a few days and I've taken a lot of lousy pics:-)
Going from P&S to DSLR is a complicated business...
But keep going to the folder as I am adding them in as I go...
Put one on of Rush this afternoon..

>Put one on of Rush this afternoon..

Rush??!!  I don't think so.  Going nowhere in a hurry that one...

Scumptious :)

Nope...he is so laid back but he can really move when he wants to...
Going to put the rest of the gang up shortly...:-)

Just have to reduce the file size..

You probably already know this but Nick Ridley does a one day course on dog photography. It costs £165 for the day and is specifically for digital SLR owners who have gone beyond reading the manual:) One day when I'm rich and famous(don't all hold your breath!) I'm going to buy OH an Slr and send him on the course then he can come to working tests with me and not get bored. Ha Ha

> Just have to reduce the file size..

I notice in a post up the thread you have used Photoshop, you can change the file sizes for web viewing easy. In Photoshop, if you go to 'file' then 'save for web' you get your image open in a new window, in there you can 'optimize to file size' if you need a specific size for up-loading, but just saving the file for web veiwing (without using the 'optimize file size' ) will alter the size dramatically for you. :) (It will make a copy of the file to save for web and it changes the storage size of the file, eg, from a 2.5 mb file to a 50k file, it doesn't turn the image into a tiny thumbnail).

Loved looking at your piccies :)

Just an additional thought, I'm not sure how well you know your way around Photoshop, but incase you haven't used 'variations' you can use it to make an image sepia (click the colours in untill you get the desired effect).
You can also get some good effects by applying the filters.

Wow, you must be having great fun, a new posh camera and runing the images through Photoshop - with that mix, I wouldn't be getting anything else done other than playing around with my piccies :-D

> You probably already know this but Nick Ridley does a one day course on dog photography. It costs £165 for the day and is specifically for digital SLR owners who have gone beyond reading the manual

That sounds interesting ...

After a long time dithering, I've just bought myself a Canon 450d. Don't really dare take it out in public just yet, in case it's obvious that I haven't a clue how to use it LOL. I've booked myself on to a 'Know Your DSLR' course in mid-April, so hopefully after that I'll be a bit more competent. Mind you, even in auto mode, the photos it takes are just soooo much better than any of the point and shoots I've had, even though they were good ones. Am particularly loving the speed it takes pics of the dogs, even on auto I've had some fantastic action shots.

M.

Thanks for that I did not know about him...it is a bit far for me but perhaps at some stage I might give it a go.

I am having loads of fun with Photoshop. Didn't know about the save for web tho.
I'm just getting the hang of everything all at once....so it's taking a bit of time. Having loads of fun and have been off work for a week and have got nothing much done apart from photos. :-)

Back to work this afternoon tho hopefully the dogs there will give me some good shots over time.

Cheers

And keep the hints and tips coming I could use all you have to offer..:-)

> And keep the hints and tips coming I could use all you have to offer

This was done using photoshop, as I'm used to using photoshop it only took a bout 10 mins. It was a snap-shot of my sisters boxer pup (I was baby sitting her and the cheeky monkey sat in my washing basket on me clean clothes), I grabbed the camera to get a pic of her. Her face looked so cute I decided to make it look like a studio shot.

I cropped the image to the head & shoulders.
I then put in the blue background.

To put in the background you need to take the 'real' background out.
When you open a file in photoshop it is a 'background layer' - go to 'view' then 'show layers' & a box will pop up and show you the layer you are working in.
You need to duplicate the background layer  -in the layers list hover over the background layer, right click & select 'duplicate layer'.
Turn off the visabilty of the background layer by clicking the little eye that appears on the left of it in the layers list. (I always keep this background layer for ref. it is also handy incase one rubs out too much and has saved those chages, you can go & nick a bit from that background layer)
Make sure you are working in the duplicate layer, you can check this by looking at the layers list, the one you are working in will be highlighted blue.

Now you are ready to erase all the background from your image. To do this quickly you can use the 'magic wand' tool, which will select a specific colour and allow you to erase just that, but for a more detailed job, you can erase it all manually.
Select the eraser, use it in paintbrush mode. Select a small brush with faded edges to rub-out all around the main image you want to keep in. For best results enlarge very big and take your time. This way can be undetectable once you are used to doing it, but it does take a lot of work to do.

NOw make a new layer - in the layers window, click the little arrow on the top right, then click 'new layer'. The new layer needs to be dragged to be under the layer with the dog.

Select the new layer as that is what you will now be working on.

Go to the fill tool and fill the entire layer with one colour. Next go to 'filters', & I think it's 'lighting effects' where you will find 'clouds' or 'clouds difference' (something like that). Apply that effect to the layer. You can then go to 'edit' then 'transform', then 'scale' and change the size of that layer to your desired effect.

You can also change the colour of this layer using your preferred method (hue/variations/selective colour).

It sounds a bit complicated, but once you have found your way around photoshop and done this a few times, it will be a piece of cake :)

You can experiement with different backgrounds too, buy playing with t he 'filters' (note, lots of the filters can not be applied to an empty layer, you need to at least fill it with a colour), you can also get some smart backrounds using the gradient tool.
For piece of mind, always work on a duplicate of you original picture, that way you don't have to worry about ruining your original.

Myself & my dad have spent a lot of time using it to restore damadged photos and to colourise back & white photos for a local photography studio amongst other things, but we each have our own way of doing things and find it hard to use each others techniques, so I really think the best way to learn is to play, play, play with Photoshop and don't be frightened of it :-D

> And keep the hints and tips coming I could use all you have to offer..

This next one is good for a laugh.
Get a piccie of a person open in photoshop.
Go to 'image' then 'liquify'. Your image is now like liquid, ready for you to pull around and make very funny changes too :-) The paint brush will allow you to drag the image around, for examlpe select the appropriate sized brush, put on side of forehead & drag upwards - hey-presto, your person now has a horn :)

The tools (on the left of the window) also include 'pucker' (great fun for giving somebody a tiny little nose) and I can't remeber what it's called but it the opposite of pucker, so you can make things bulbous, like give people really big bug eyes. There is also twisty type tools that will twist the image around at the point you put the brush on.

I've had a great laugh with the kids modifying family pics using liquify :)

Have fun :)

Right was having a play and although not great I did a photo shop practice..
On Sunday I took a pic of nothing but clouds...with using it as a background in mind...
took the b&w version of Freeway and added him to the clouds...did a bit of blurring of the edges..not bad for a first go...but there is A LOT more practicing needs doing...:-)  before I get any where near good.

Ha it looks like I'll be learning two new things this year.

Every year a try to learn something new. This year is photography....but didn't realize PS would be included so a twofer special...:-)

Cheers
Having too much fun...wish I had a class nearby that didn't interfere with work :-(