I had great results last night. I shot at 1/250 sec & f/11 most of the time. Didn't go past 1/250 sec this time around, but maybe next time I will to see if I can great results.


After last night, I can see why some people prefer shooting with primes only. I used 3 lenses, a borrowed 24-70 f/2.8, my Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 & the non-L 100 f/2.8:


With the 100, I felt like I was too far away from the model to get a full body shot, however, I got some great head shots. I was blown away by the sharpness of the images (I am almost afraid of using the 135 f2 for fear that I might actually BE blown up and away:P). Nearly all the shots I had to delete were not because of blur or focus problems, but snapping the picture at an odd time. My second round of deletions will take forever, too many good shots to choose from.


With the 24-70 I felt like I was too close to the model-my keeper rate was better than last time-however, I liked the feel of the lens. Most of the deleted shots were due to a missed focus. Sharpness and contrast were good overall, but I expected better given the rave reviews.


With the 18-50, I also felt like I was too close to her. I had a high deletion rate because the lens missed focused. However, when it did hit the focus, I was pleasantly surprised. Sharpness and contrast were also good-I have had problems in the past with a strange color cast when I take pictures of bright orange or pink flowers, I saw none of that here.


My 50 f/1.8 I brought along couldn't focus on her. I had dropped the lens this summer (18" onto a deck). Autofocus had been working fine forlandscapepictures. Maybe I should upgrade to a 50 f/1.4 in the future.


Next time I will bring both the 70-200 f/4 & the 100 f/2.8.


One more thing. I have taken many pictures I am happy with in the past 2 years with the XTi, but none that rival the quality of the photos I see on-line (at least in my eyes-others have said differently). Last night, I finally got shots I thought were amazing. Maybe, instead of buying a body in the next few months, I will just buy better glass.


I am so thankful for all your help. You have no idea....