guineapiggie101

Thanks for the advice guys. I think that the 55-200 lens will best suit my needs as an amateur photographer. One thing though, will having the new lens take away the focusing issues that I've been having?

Down below the box you type your text in is a place that says 'Attachment'. Hit the 'Browse' button to choose an image. Then hit the 'Upload attachment' button. Then a quick 'Post Reply' and you are set! I tried that, but it said my pic was too large. Will resize and try again later.

I know this may sound dumb, but how do you learn to focus manually?

Right now I am using the stock lens that came with the camera, a 18-55mm VR lens.

quick question, how do we post photos on here??

Last year I bought a Nikon D3100 and have been using it for taking pix at the DZ and on my overseas trips. The stock lens is great, but I am finding that I have problems with focusing on distant objects that I want to take pics of. The camera tries to focus and the time it takes, I've lost the pic I am now looking for a new lens to be able to take better distance pics. Not looking to spend a lot of money since this is just an amateur hobby of mines. Anybody have any lens suggestions??? I've taken a look at a few on Amazon like this: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-55-200mm-4-5-6G-Vibration-Reduction/dp/B000O161X0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=9THECSVAXF27&coliid=I1FNMD5LUNOSC7 and this: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-18-200mm-3-5-5-6G-Telephoto-DX-Format/dp/B002JCSV8A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=9THECSVAXF27&coliid=IIZ9RRGYMQY5O The price difference is a bit high though.

I'm bad :( . I guess I never really did tell my parents I was learning to skydive. My husband knew and thought I was nuts for wanting to learn to skydive. I did try to "ease" my mom into it by telling her that I wanted to do a tandem (this was after I was already doing AFF), and she majorly FLIPPED out on me and berated me for even considering something as "crazy" as that. I did tell my brother (just in case anything happened to me, that he would know what was going on). That came in handy when I broke my leg skydiving, later down the road. My thought is, if you think your parents are going to "flip" out over it, and you are not, in any way, dependent on them, then maybe it might be better NOT to tell them.

J-S, thanks for the heads-up.

I agree with the others, tunnel will help with the spinning. BTW, I had to repeat AFF 3 TEN times before I passed onto the next level. Good luck!

Someone recently mentioned to me that I could get involved in tandem competitions. Can someone tell me more about it (what it involves, costs, etc). Recently, I was awarded a restricted A-license with the help of some excellent DZ friends at Elsinore.

If it is that much of a hassle, I may decide NOT to do a tandem while I am out there (as much as I want to). Thanks all for the info.

Yes, my bday falls in the middle of the week of my London trip. Guess I will have to do a tandem before my actual bday. The UK seems to have some stringent rules even in regards to tandems.

Yikes!!!! They actually ask for that if you are doing a tandem, if you are 40???? I never heard of that in the US. I know I have to sign a waiver and that, and I have 50 tandems under my belt. Also, my plan is to be in London the week of 4/17- 4/24

I've decided to go to London for a week for my 40th bday. This will be my first time there. I know there are a few DZs in the UK. Wondering which would be a good DZ to get in a tandem. Keep in mind, I do not plan on renting a car during the week I am there, so I will need something accessible by bus or Tube.

Anybody do this and if so, when you checked in, did you get ok rooms? (I've heard that hotels tend to give their less desirable rooms to people who book through a 3rd party consolidator (like Orbitz, Travelocity, etc). I dilly dallied around and ended up waiting till last minute to book my hotel for my HK trip later this month. Was surfing around on Orbitz.com this morning and found a really good rate for an American-branded hotel (Hyatt, Sheraton, etc). Jumped on that and was able to secure a harbor view room for 6 nights for about $1100 USD total. A long time ago we use to use Priceline to get cheap airfares, until we got burned on a flight that got cancelled. Now I usually buy air tix on the specific airline website. I also usually book hotels on the specific hotel website, but this was a really good deal. My only preferences is that I get a harbor view ( for which I paid extra for) and that I get a non-smoking room (which I did request).

Since my family and I celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday (due to my brother going out of town for the holidays), I may go to Disneyland tomorrow with a friend :)

For those of you who travel out of country on vacation, is travel insurance recommended?

I emailed the hotel about their incidental charge, and their reply was that their incidental deposit is $500HKD (which is about $65 USD) per night. Not too bad. For 6 nights that would be close to $400 USD total which is not too bad. I probably would put it on my card then. As for my mom, I haven't said anything to her about it. My uncle hasn't either (and I know they have talked recently). I am hoping to get it closer to the date before it comes out. i did find out that she is planning to go to HK in March (she was asking me to look for tickets for her online).

I actually will be celebrating Thanksgiving this Sunday (11/18) because my brother and his gf will be in Bali for the holidays. We get to meet my brother's gf's entire family and she is cooking for everybody. It should be interesting. I will be brining a Honeybaked Ham.

Iago, actually I get 12% discount for prepaying my stay at least 21 days in advance. So I save some $$. I guess I will just use the credit card to hold the incidentals. Thanks for the advice about fraud. I'm looking forward to this trip. Going to check out the Peninsula Hotel too. It's been 24 years since I've been to HK. Will be nice to see the new airport. Also, since my uncle is retired, he has time to take me around and show me all the sights. 10 more weeks to go till I hop on a plane to HK. I can't wait.

I know the "incidentals" deposit is just an authorization on your credit card (that hits against your available credit), and not a charge. I just don't want too many authorizations on my card (since I heard that international hotel authorizations can take up to 7 days to drop off), in case I plan to use the card for shopping, or when I come back to the US. I am hoping to bring a few thousand in cash (USD), along with a credit card) on my trip with me. Since I am going to spend a large chunk of my time with my uncle, I think he's gonna handle the currency exchange with me. No worries about illegal substances. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. But, thanks for the heads up.

I am going to Hong Kong at the end of January to visit my uncle. Will be staying in a hotel for the week I am out there. Hotels are not cheap out there, esp since I want to stay somewhere in the touristy area and easily accessible by my uncle. My uncle gave me some suggestions and I have already picked the hotel (for those of you who know HK, I am planning to stay at the Langham). I am going to prepay the entire stay. I know most US hotels require an "incidental" deposit when you check in. This is to cover any charges or damages made to your room. When I travel here in the US, I usually ask how much that might be, when I am checking in, so I have an idea. For those of you who have traveled out of the country, how do "incidental holds" work in other countries? On the hotel website, it only says that "incidental" holds can be covered with cash or credit card. I have traveled out of the country before, but I usually traveled with my husband and he would handle the hotel stuff. When I went to Shanghai in Oct., my aunt (the groom's mom) handled all that (since she paid for the hotel for us). Right now, I am planning to bring $$$ in USD and use part of that for the "incidental hold" and then change other parts to the local currency. I will bring credit cards, but am NOT planning to use them (only as emergency backups). I don't really want to deal with the credit card charges for currency conversion

Do you think it is a bad idea that I emailed my uncle for hotel/area suggestions to stay in, so it is easier for us to meet up. My uncle doesn't have a car (it's really NOT feasible to have a car in HK), so he will have to meet up with me on the days we hang out. I still haven't decided on the hotel yet, since I am not sure what area to stay in. BTW, I dropped a hint to my mom about me traveling to HK. She didn't take it that well. Ooops!

They might still have records of you. Do you remember the names of the AFF-I that you jumped with? Best bet is to drop by the DZ and talk to the instructors to see what can be done. Since you've been gone so long, they might have you repeat a level.

Maybe next time I should try washing my jumpsuit at home. Would save me some $. I don't jump as much as you guys so I probably can go for a few months in between washes.