Syd on the porch -- first post with the XT

Sydney was good enough to pose for a photo op.

It looked a bit soft out of the camera, but I was pleased with how well the image responded to
sharpening in PS. I probably didn't need the flash, but at this point I'm a total noob.

I shot in RAW and jpg large, and gave up on the RAW for now. Sheesh. Lots to learn.

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Congrats on the XT, old Sid is as skinny as ever I see. Nice shot.

Good to see another fat cat!

Looks like it came out pretty good, though the face looks (to me) as if unsharp masking with a fairly large pixel radius was used. Flash was only conspicuous in the eyes and the faint shadow behind.

When possible, it helps to shoot with most lenses, especially kit types, at f/5.6, or, even better, f/8, for maximum sharpness on the rebel xt. In a situation like the one here, I'd suggest setting the f-stop, then adjusting your ISO to get adequate brightness at a shutter speed at least equivalent to your focal length, I.E. 1/50th for 50mm, 1/200th for 200mm, etc. If it were me, I'd probably go with 1/80th or better there, just to be safe. If you're using flash, then the ISO may not need adjusting.

According to what I've read on these forums, that's a generally accepted ratio for reducing or eliminating camera shake blur.

Thanks Paul and Carol. It's that extra special catfood we get from the vet.

Thanks, form. As soon as I can find all those buttons, I'll give it a try. Seriously, thanks for the advice.

Wow -- "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down!!" Looks like Syd has a nice solid "base" there. Good shot.

Joe,stick with raw,as soon as you learn it,you will never go back to jpeg,been there,done that.
Enjoy your new purchase mate,well done.

Very nice model for your new gear Joe!

For Jpeg, you might want to check the Parameters in the camera. The default setting for Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation might be 0. That's why the photo will be flat coming straight from the camera. I use "Set 1" to customize my parameters in case i shoot jpeg. Mine looks like:

Sharpness +2
Contrast +2
Saturation +1
Tone 0

Oh yah, ditto what Dimitri said.

Thanks, Julie. Syd's metabolism is quite efficient. Guess he needs to start hitting the gym.

Thanks for the encouragement, Dimitri and Fee. I'm trying those settings on my next shots.