[Lady Jag]

Thank you for sharing those fabulous photos! That's an awesome tele shot of the the casket on the Capital stairs. Tele shots are difficult with digital. Other than a tripod, do you have any 'tricks' for getting good digital long shot?

[f zero]

That was with a monopod! I (and about 10 others) climbed on top of a ten foot tower of wooden boards and shot toward the Capitol. We were still plenty far away, but the elevated platform helped get above the crowd.

As for shooting digital:

Digital is very similar to shooting slides, you have to nail the exposure, there is very little latitude. If you do error, as with slides, it is safer to underexpose than overexpose, but not much.

Learn Photo-Shop. It is a monster, but it can do everything. The first thing you need to master is 'LEVELS' This helps you fix the exposure and contrast problems created by the lack of latitude.

Practice, Practice , Practice. Film is cheep, but digital is FREE!!!