Somehow, after setting up the particle system, the F/focus key has reversed. It zooms out on an object instead of zooming in. Is this because of the particle system or is it something else?
Something in your scene is causing the bounding area to be larger than you expect. Have any objects way out in left field that you are not noticing perhaps?
that was the problem; i had three point lights above the scene and recently moved them farther out to play with the ambient light settings
thanks for the help