Helpline

About a year ago, you helped me decide on an SLR camera, and I love it. I've taken a short camera class only to learn there's so much more to learn. Now I want a versatile lens, so I can carry just one lens with me. I'll need a zoom (150mm to 300mm?) as I'm sure to be far away when I want to take pictures of tennis players and capture action shots. I know from friends that the lens can't be too long or you can't take it into sporting events, and I need a lens with stabilization. Also, I teach first-grade speakers of other languages, and I enjoy taking their pictures, too.

               
Capturing talent
Q) I want to start shooting photos of local bands and some other bigger acts that come through my area on a regular basis. I'm new to the D-SLR game and still learning all the things I can do with my camera. So I'm looking for some advice on what settings to use while in this type of situation. Of course, it's low-light and fast-moving action, along with light changing all the time. I'm in the market to buy a new lens specifically for this task, but would love to also use it in the field for the nature photography I'm starting to enjoy. I'll have access to the sides of the stage and the front of the stage on the calm side of the barrier, so I'd think that my shooting distances could range from about six to 25 feet.
 

Q) A lot has been written about the amazing things that can be done with plug-ins. PCPhoto has given me a lot of great tips as I've been learning more and more about using layers in order to fine-tune my digital images. I've become fascinated by what I can do with filters when editing my images. So now I'm wondering about whether I even need any filters when I take my digital photographs.

Q) In Windows XP, I have many subfolders defined for basic photo organization; however, I like to rearrange thumbnails in the folders as one would in a photo album. But I find that Windows often rearranges the thumbnails after I've spent a lot of time organizing them. I've tried turning off auto arrange, but it seems to happen anyway. I've tried arranging on type, etc., instead of name, but that doesn't seem to help. Turning off auto arrange also interferes with organizing the photos in the first place. Is there some way of stopping Windows XP from reorganizing subfolders after they have been organized? Thanks for your help.