drstupid

I'm 34 and i heard it. Where's my prize?

The cleaver originally was sharp, i chose to put a lens blur in that reduced its immediate impact (deliberately, and the vignette for the same reason).

The effect you are talking about was what i was wanting when i went to take the shot, but conditions and lens availability stopped me from getting it. (even on the 10-20mm Sigma at 10mm end) Something of the fish eye ilk would've been more preferable, and then two inches from his nose. Also, i would've prefered to drop the lighting of the background during shooting, but it proved impossible without the main flash intruding on it too much (as it is already starting to do), and no chance for a tripod.

Cheers for the comments though Bicks.

Any idea what colour temperature a butchers walk-in freezer lights would be

Nor did i acquire access to this part of the establishment through illegal entry..

this guy wasn't there (fortunately), but i'd be interested in your opinions on the portrait.

I've not finished the edit yet, but it won't look vastly different from this, just some judicial work on selected areas with the curves function.

No ....

Been a while, sorry folks. Busy, busy and all that.

Anyway... i give you.. deserted mental asylum

Tempted to regurgitate the 'big nose' joke again...

(if it IS hideous, i'm sure you could get a top class rhinoplasty by selling that piece of glass you're holding in front of it )

Is this thread just a ruse to allow un-moderated posting on other topics while you're otherwise engaged?

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and... where would we finish in the Portugese league if we were allowed to field a team made entirely of all the right-backs we've been linked to in the past 137 days?

Great performance from all the lads, really proud to be a Villa fan at the moment.

Just a quick point though, as nobody's mentioned it. For what has to be one of the worst referee's in the premiership (from a Villa perspective at least), i thought Clattenberg had a really good game. In fact i can only remember two instances i thought he got wrong, the first a corner for the Noses in the opening five mins (which i missed as i was late to the pub), and i thought Nafti should've gone into the book for his challenge on Young when we were counter attacking with good opportunities opening up.

Good report John, sums it all up nicely.

Bring on Everton... i can't wait!

..and so am i right in saying that to score with at least six different players, one of them must have a surname beginning with 'B'?

If you can't get in all you want on the 18mm end of your kit lens, the 35mm f2 isn't going to help! You need something wider than 18mm, such as the Sigma 10-20mm which i plumped for recently, and has been used by a few on here. (£289 from warehouse express)

Havn't been on here much recently as i've been pretty busy, but some great shots. Keep up the good work guys. (and gals... where's Cat gone?)

Page 8 :shock:

Ok, what's your opinion of the Sigma 10-20mm peoples?

I'm thinking of getting it at the mo, but would like some un-biased feedback.

Also, has anyone used or owned the Sigma 70mm macro (or the 105mm macro for that matter)?

First one for me too; best lighting of the three. Nice work though!

b23avfc - I like!, great colour rendition. Nice portrait.

Gareth - Cheers for that, it's amazing how dull and washed out the original looks when compared to that one. Is this the 'Velvia' imitation that you used on one of your other images? (i think), it really pushes the colour. Would love to know what you did if it's not a pain in the arse.

As for the sensor dust, i hadn't noticed it actually! There's another bit 3/4 of the way up the left side too, but i think the sensor cleaner's got rid of them now judging by this image from testing the new lenses last week. (one of the bonuses of the 400D)

Also, if anyone is interested in some old Konica Hexanon lenses, i have three at the moment which i'm selling... 40mm, 50mm, 135mm, and a 300m tamron. All for Konica bayonet mount. Old school.

Off to test the new lenses down the park, will see what i get and might post some pics. I can't play at the mo as i've done my ankle ligaments in, but i can annoy them all with my paparazzi skills!

Congrats, hope it all pans out well for you!

As for the interview, it went well (i stuck my half baked attemp at the landscape in on the first page ). Just that horrible waiting game now... i guess i'll hear next week if i got in.

Would still love to know how you'd have done the pic though bicks, as my photoshop skills are in their infancy at the moment.

I just got a canon 28-105 USM, 80-200, 75-300 and a speedlite 380ex second hand for £110

I'm well chuffed as they're in 'as new' condition too!!!

Who wants to touch me?

Why don't we all go and live in our own hermetically sealed little bubble where we can't offend the sensibilities of another with our obnoxious habits, foul odours and irritable opinions; eating a scientifically calibrated diet engineered to promote a healthy and happy existence until our pre-determined time to depart this mortal coil comes around and carted of to fertilise the cycle of life once more.

... and some people say i'm a cynic.

Hmmm.... ok, here goes...

what will happen is they will probably turn some pubs into members only pubs, much like liberal or conservative etc etc clubs, in which its up to the owners.

You'll get smoking pubs for smokers i imagine.

but normal pubs,clubs and nightclubs will obviously be smoke free.

and i think the stats show alot, 80% of this forum choose non-smoking as a good thing, which makes you wonder how ignorant the 20% of smokers are to make 100% of people smell!

Your average city pub just can't afford to be a members club, i've worked in pubs for years and the profit margin just isn't that high. Hence why most barstaff are paid minimum wage for one of the most over worked and under-appreciated jobs in the service industry. (sorry, but it is)

The existence of this 'private club' loophole rather than a decision that allows premises to CHOOSE whether to be non-smoking or not, only serves to aid the elitist factions of society and protect them from their own governance.

Some clubs in Scotland have been looking at how to tackle this with fragrances being pumped out of fans.....

I know several places that smell perpetually of vomit!, i'd avoid them, but i'm an alcoholic and there's not too much open after 1am up here. The ones that don't smell are generally full of chavs, or just shit. Such is life, but i know all these late-licence places would happily go back to smoking establishments (ie. with warning signs up telling people of the risks... anal i know, but a COMPROMISE!) as i would estimate 80-90% of their patrons smoke. There's an interesting question, would you rather work an 8 hour shift in a place that smelt of smoke, or one that smelt of vomit?

The only problem is the gaggle of smokers outside the doors of pubs, offices, etc. Next step is to drive them further down the road so we don't have to walk through them to get in. After that, the next goal will be to make them congregate in a field well away from built-up areas. But only when wind conditions permit.

At the risk of sounding (even more) like a civil liberties activist, if the govenment gets their way on 'public meeting' laws, there'll be a strict smoking rota of no more than two people allowed to congregate outside a pub at any one time, and they'll have to wear big yellow 'i'm a smoker' hats to avoid being gunned down by an over zealous police force using their new-found anti-terrorism powers of 'shoot first question later'!... ok, i may have exaggerated slightly.

You might wanna buy into an outside heaters company too and an awning company.

These things pump out an average 13kg of carbon dioxide an hour!, the irony being that yes, sales will go through the roof once the evironment polluting smokers are made to stand outside in the cold.

However this hasn't made me any less resentful. Passive smoking still hasnt been proved even though the theory has been tested continually for many years. I watched newsnight a few years back and heard what appeared to be a middle aged middle class middle of the road scottish lady rattle about how she feels restricted from going to pubs because she cant stand the smoke. She also claimed that many people like her would begin to frequent pubs once the ban in scotland came into force. I'm pretty sure after one visit to the pub, she remembered that the loud laddish environment was the real reason for her staying away. I can live with the ban but its the sneering attitude of many people who will never frequent the pub on a regular basis, claiming some victory on those who they seem to view as shit on their shoe.

I'd be willing to bet a fair amount of money that this was Jack McConnell's wife.

Once the ban comes into effect, smokers are quite welcome to stay away if they wish to.

they can drink at home if they wish to, it's all about personal choice.

That's exactly my point Jon, it's NOT about personal choice for smokers, we're being dictated to by a heavy-handed law which turns smokers into the new scapegoat for societies ills and does very little towards its intended purpose.

Every law has it's anomalies, but not every law is quite so ill-conceived and or down right dictatorial as this one.

It'll not be long till they start to limit booze, too.

Give it 10 years and drinking will be as stigmatised as smoking is now.

The amount of crime caused by alcohol, the broken families, violence, illness, mayhem in Casualty departments, drink drivers ruining lives,....

Something must be done about it!

Nanny knows best.

Far, far too true!

I resisted commenting last time this thread appeared, i think Gringo was saying much the same as i will, but i can't remember (and can't be arsed checking) so if it wasn't, apologies.

It's not about whether you do or don't like smoking, it's about the subtle yet perpetual erosion of civil liberties that a blanket ban subjects the populace to. (and yes, drinking... or something else YOU participate in will be next)

Sorry fergie69, but i didn't vote as in the context of the above statement i find both choices selfish.

There, i stuck my fag-end in!

Edit due to mis-identifying the OP

Tip of the day: Anybody with slr should grab a 50mm lens, or the equivalent if you want to be pedantic, and shoot just with that.

Bicks - got any kit bags you don't want? I need something large and shoulder style.. 2dlsr with lenses attached being the largest factor.

I love my 50mm lens, the cheapest lens i could buy, but a vast improvement in image quality over the Canon kit lens. Would recommend it to anyone with a 350/400D as either their first lens to buy, or even just buy the body and get this as a kit lens.

And cripplingly expensive!!!

Bicks - Nice, almost looks like a swirl of blancmange (sp?), or some other foodstuff.

Love the urban landscape shot, exactly the sort of thing i like taking. Almost abstract.

Might have gone for a bit more contrast between the red brick and the whitewashed wall though... just personal preference, i tend to find that mid-grey a little offensive when it pops up in my images.

Cheers for the comments guys, cheered me up no end! Took me a while but i eventually found somewhere to upload the original file. It's 5mb, so it'll take a while to download, but you're welcome to use for a desktop if you wish.

large version

drstupid, I take it you are combining two versions of the same image, altered in RAW conversion to give a great dynamic range?

If so I may be able to help but later in the week, I take it you are doing it in Photoshop? If so I have a photoshop action I can mail you

Ihats a great shot, I expect the hogwarts express to run me over at any time now

(and you are right, it was a lot of purchasing and no theres no secret cheap place - lets just say I treated myself with a bit of a legacy)

Yeah Bicks, it's a combo of two RAW conversions using Photoshop CS2. The tutorial i have for this sort of thing uses a gradient map, but it appears to be useless if the horizon isn't straight (as in this image). Also, the valley on the far left was in bright sunshine, and seems a little out of place in the B&W image (can't decide), so i might need to do a 3rd conversion for that bit, but maybe there's an easier way. Any help would be much appreciated.

Funnily enough the shot's taken not far from the 'Hogwarts Bridge', but we ended up going to Glen Nevis instead (will post some ND filtered waterfall shots sometime from up there). It's very un-nerving standing so close to the rail tracks and concentrating on your camera... i really had to look behind me every few seconds as there was a bend in the track, so no advance warning of any trains!

Peter - Nice lens mate, a little out of my price range unfortunately. Think i might just bite the bullet and get this Sigma one i was looking at.

Bickster - That IS a lot of purchasing, are you getting these new from a shop or is there a cheap place i havn't heard of? (ie. ebay... which i have heard of before i get the smart ass comments)

This is my first attempt at a RAW conversion. Comments are more than welcome, and if anyone has a better way of blending the two conversions so i don't get so much 'halo' on the horizon, let me know. I tried a few techniques, but this is just a feathered selection of the foreground and some dodging/burning, which is the best so far. Help!

Nice pics Peter! The more abstract ones are my favs.

Which lens is it exactly you're using?, i'm in a pre-purchase research phase.