Meet photography guru, Laurie Excell

[GrafxEditor]

Hi guys,

I'm pleased to announce a brand-new feature we've never offered here on the forums before. This thread will be moderated by photography guru Laurie Excell, who has graciously agreed to answer all of your questions about digital photography. This is a very exciting advancement indeed for our little forum!

Laurie spent the first 25 years of her career in photographic sales helping pros and hobbyists alike decide which photographic equipment best suited their needs. All the while, she was an avid photographer. In 2000 she left sales to become a full-time professional wildlife and nature photographer. She has been published in Outdoor Photographer, Outdoor Photography (UK), Photoshop User, and Layers magazines. You will also find her photography on Audubon calendars, as well as postcards, calendars, and posters for the National Park Service.

As if that's not enough, Laurie also leads wildlife photography safaris in North America and is an instructor with the Digital Landscape Workshop Series, Photoshop World, and Cruising Through Life training extravaganzas. She also runs a business called EQuipmentLady, where she sells photographic equipment on consignment for other photographers when they upgrade their equipment. Oh, and in all of her spare time, she's the Photo Equipment Advice Desk Guru for our very own National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

OK, I'm exhausted just going through all of that! I think you get the idea: She knows her stuff! So please make Laurie feel welcome and start shooting off every question you've wanted to ask but were afraid to.

One final note: This goes without saying, but if you have an answer to someone's question, please feel free to weigh in and join in the fun. Think synergy.

Annie

[selawela]

Thank you, Annie, for introducing us to Laurie!

Wow, Laurie, what amazing credentials! I huge "Brava" to you! I look forward to visiting this thread so I can educate myself to be a better photographer! A million thanks!

[lionsleeps]

Welcome! I'm glad you're here. (And at least for partly selfish reasons!)

I recently went from a Nikon D50 (which I loved) to a D80 (which I'm not so sure about yet). The problem I have is, on the D50, when I wanted to make sure I got a good shot of something I really wanted (and knew there wouldn't be a second chance), I went with Program mode, which sets aperture and shutter speed both. Normally I'll be on either aperture or shutter mode, rather than full manual (I'm not that good or that confident). On my D80, when I did that (used Program mode), the shots were badly underexposed. ISO was 100, and 10:00 am Texas July (which is to say BBBRRRIIIGGGHHHTTT!) Shutter speed was 2600-4000 and aperture was 10-13. I have a 70-300 Nikkor lens, that is the same one I used on the D50 without this effect. Any idea what gives?

[lexcell]

Well, it sounds like you had plenty of light, the question is what was the quality and circumstances? Was your subject backlit? Where you shooting into the shade? Did you have exposure compensation set? Post a photo so we can look at it and it should give some clues as to what happened. Your exposure data is way high which explains the unerexposure. We just need to figure out what happened.

[lionsleeps]

I've uploaded a photo from the DARK SIDE. It's a cormorant looking to land on the lake not far from where I was (I think that's what it is, anyway). Any ideas?

I started out with brighter pictures, but as the morning progressed, the darker they got. It's got to be something I did. (It almost always is! That's one of the things I learned with horses that I can apply to computerized anything: They never do what you want, but they always do what you tell them to!) If I can just figure out what I told it to do ...