rocketfeuille

Yeah- those damned flashes have a way of adding their own shadows.

I agree with Brains. The photographer sat down low with a wide angle lens, giving the moose's head an enlarged appearance. The hunter, being further away from the lens, appears to shrink.

I looked at the Toyota Corolla (too common, too vanilla), the Honda Civic (also too common, too vanilla), the Mazda3 (questionable Mazda reliability, looks designed for high-schoolers), the Mini Cooper (too mini for the daughter I was expecting at the time and have in the backseat of my Jetta from time to time), and the Focus (questionable reliability, ugly). Ultimately, my decision came down to the car I would enjoy driving the most. That was the Jetta. Easily the best-driving car of the lot (except for the Mini, but like I said, the Mini was too small). I also liked that it packed the longest list of standard features. Most of the other cars jumped substantially in price once they were equipped similiarly to the Jetta. And, with the daughter on the way, the Jetta's high safety rating was a major selling point. I think it got the highest possible rating for rear seat safety or the highest rating in its class. And I totally agree with mx757 on everything he's said about the diesel engine. It's great.

The longer the lens, the flatter the image. The planes are pretty spankin' close, but they're not that close. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if, in the second photo, the top plane was actually flying next to (not directly above) the bottom plane. The astounding thing about the Blue Angels photos is that they were taken with a wide angle lens (evidenced by the distortion at the edges of the frame). So the planes in those pictures are actually closer than they appear.

I've always like VW as a company, and have always found their design appealing. I bought a 2004 Jetta TDI last summer and love it. Of all the cars I considered (the Mazda3 included) it was easily the most fun to drive. No problems so far, at 22k miles. The customer service has been exceptional. The oil changes on the diesel are more expensive, but you only have to do them every 10k miles, so you're paying more less often. My routine maintenance (oil changes, etc) have not been covered by my warranty. I'm considering the Passat for my wife.

Does anyone have it? Do you usually have to pay an additional fee to your cellphone provider to access your email with your phone?

Thanks for the tips, everybody. Appreciate it.

I know this question isn't related to skydiving photography, but I figured that you guys would be the most help. I've been a serious amateur for a few years, just hobbying. Well, when some friends of mine got engaged this year, I did their engagement photos. As a result, they asked me to shoot their wedding as well. I agreed to do both for free because they're good friends and I didn't know any better. The engagement photos were pretty easy, but the only other free wedding I ever shoot will be for family. Anyway, now that people have seen the pictures they got, I've had some calls from people who want to hire me for family photos and a wedding. The problem is that I don't know how much to charge. Obviously, I'm new in the business and have very little reputation built for myself, but I honestly have no idea where to start in determining rates. I'm shooting digital, by the way. Any help or advice you guys can offer would be very much appreciated. Here's a sample.

The General in my pants.

update...

I don't own one, but have heard the BOSE iPod system and think it sounds great. On the same level as the wave radio, which is amazing. If I had the money, i would already own one.

I love my 2004 Jetta TDI. I am in love with it. Hands down, the most fun I've ever had in an economy car.

But I like it! Well, maybe I'm wrong. It's been known to happen. I have been told by at least three people that their HP iPods didn't work when they tried to use them with a Mac.

A couple of people have recommended getting the HP version of the iPod. If you ask me, I'd advise against it. The HP version is ONLY compatible with windows. The apple version, when configured on a PC, can be used on PC and Mac. If you ever go back and forth between platforms, even if it's just to use the iPod as an external drive, you'll need the cross-platform capability.

I used to be strictly Canon when I was working with film, but when I made the switch to digital, I found Nikon more appealing. I love the D70 and hated having to use a friend's digital rebel for a project. If you can wait, grab the D70s when it comes to market. The new remote cinches it as the better camera.