I attended the Tamron workshop in Milwaukee with Don Gale this past weekend. It was interesting, alot of stuff I already knew. But he answered my questions I did have after the seminar when I got a chance to talk to him. Alot of the seminar was looking at his shots he took. He pushed white balance alot and shooting in RAW. Also pushed the importance of watching your histogram. And using fill flash outdoors.

There was some "advertising", of course, for tamron and their new VC lenses "vibration control". They claim 4 stops ..... then they pushed the expodisc white balance filter. Alot of the more "advanced" questions he kind of shrugged off due to "time". I would of liked to of seen more of a question and answer. His shots are amazing and he has been to some amazing places.

Well - we went to the zoo on saturday and took shots and have to submit 1 for a photo contest. I am having a hard time choosing and hoping to get some help. I sorted through about 300 shots and came up with these so far. I want to submit something that another person out of the workshop won't be submitting - there were at least 50 of us.

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_0105.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7399.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7405.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7408.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7431.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7458.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7481.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7525.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7548.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7565.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7567.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7581.jpg

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7626.jpg

I am pretty sure all these shots were taken with my 70-200 with the 1.7 converter except for the elephant. That was taken with my new Tamron 17-50mm 2.8. So far it is a very nice lens, hope it quits raining on my vacation and I can get to business taking shots.

All EXCELLENT shots. This one for me is priceless! His expression cracks me up...LOL

http://www.quast-family.com/albums/tamron-workshop-8-17-07-8-18-07/DSC_7581.jpg

WOW!! All are very nice but I gotta go with the Giraffe.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the replies - I do like the gorilla's expression and the way the shot turned out. I am torn between about 3-4 different shots here of which to submit. The Giraffe is one of them along with - the sea lion, the first hippo shot, and the orangatange. I want to submit something that no one else will be submitting, something different. Which makes me lean towards the sea lion. The giraffes were fairly easy to photo and I think the natural contrast of them makes them an easy photo to look good.

Don Gale had a thing for the hippos coming out of the water. I believe that alot of the people will submit a hippo shot just because of this. So that alone almost eliminates the hippo shots. The 2 I am really having a hard time with is the sea lion shot and the orangatange shot - he was indoors through glass and crappy lighting.

Appreciate the comments Big Baldo and Xia Ke. Please keep them coming. I will post which photo I do submit.

I'm liking the giraffe and the chimp with a toupee the most, but all are very good.

As a side note, do you have any photos of people? I love animal pics, but some of the best zoo pics I have seen have people "enjoying the zoo" in them. If everyone else is turning in animal pics, a photo featuring people at the zoo might make your image stand out even more. Just a thought.

I like the orangutan but it seems a little soft to me. Same with the gorilla.The expression on the gorilla IS priceless.:D
I've been looking at the sea lion, hmmm........ I dont think anyone else will have that shot. It has nice colors, good and sharp, the more I look, the more I like!:thumbsup:
Just my 2 cents.....good luck!!

In terms of content, I think the gorilla and girraffe are the best. The girraffe is "better" in terms of technical execution but I feel the DOF is bit too shallow. But I do love that mouthful look to him. Perhaps that's enough to put you on top.

As for the others, I don't feel that there is enough story behind each one in order to allow any to stand alone which is a prerequisite to gaining universal appeal.

In terms of content, I think the gorilla and girraffe are the best. The girraffe is "better" in terms of technical execution but I feel the DOF is bit too shallow. But I do love that mouthful look to him. Perhaps that's enough to put you on top.

As for the others, I don't feel that there is enough story behind each one in order to allow any to stand alone which is a prerequisite to gaining universal appeal.

Micheal -
Thanks for the reply - Its a tough decision - I think I am down to the giraffe / chimp / orangutan. No I didn't get a chance to get any "people shots" I was going to go back out in the afternoon for a few shots from the background of the kids and whatnot but it began to rain and cut the day short.

Big Baldo -
Thanks for another reply! The orangutan may be a bit soft - handheld 1/13 @ f4.8 ISO 1600. The VR must of been working overtime on that shot. I am really having a tough time choosing which to submit. I do really like the sea lion but as usual need to see the eyes of the animal (usually).

Loupey -
Thanks for the reply - I do have a thing for the giraffe. Just tough to have to choose 1, when there are 3-4 that I really like. I agree on the dof of the giraffe being a bit shallow. The gorilla is definitely "different".


Sorry for the delay in responding as I was on vacation out east this past week.

Elephant - LIke it lots; needs a crop; too obviously a "zoo" picture
Turtles - too soft and yellow
Zebra - my favorite so far
Stork - ordinary
Tiger - too soft
Polar Bear - too much an obviously zoo picture
Seal - no eyes kills it
Koala - cute, but cluttered - my second favorite
Giraffe - soft in places
Hippo 1 & Hippo 2 - technically good, but lacking wow factor
Primate - clearly the winner - crop it some first
Orangutan - just sort of okay

Boy, this is a hard one. They are all very good. I like the zebra, the sleeping polar bear and the gorilla. The gorilla is a little cluttered - too bad that grey thing is in there, but it is probably one that not many will have unless they were following you around. Good luck.

Cheers,

WesternGuy