rabster

FIX!!!! Well done Steve, a very well composed shot & a worthy winner.

My mistake, I meant Ayjay. So you also get Woody's in your garden , that ain't fair. I'll have a dabble with you pic Den, but my photoshoppery skills are fairly limited. We've got heavy snow here today, the cat chanced a quick jaunt down the garden, but soon turned around & came back in. Say hello to Pebbles, our one eared, one eyed 18 year old puds.

Morning Den. At the risk of turning this into the Woody Woodpecker show, do you think your image looks a little better by adding a tad of unsharp mask, check out the white spots on the wing for instance. BTW - You lucky bugger getting Woodpeckers in your garden. The only greater spotteds we get are Starlings - which are definitely spotted in greater numbers than anything else!

Cheers Steve. The pretty much permanent fixture on my camera is a Minolta AF 75-300mm, which came as part of the package when I bought my KM 5D. I'd love to get my hands on a Sigma 170-500mm to get just that bit closer, but pricewise they're out of my reach. As a compromise I've just bought a 2x converter off Ebay, although I think I'll need good light to use it as you lose a couple of f-stops. As for my camera settings - I'm only a few months down the line with my dslr so these details may sound very basic/patronising to many of you, but in case they're of any use to anyone I'll add them anyway, here goes: - I use Spot auto focus area & spot metering because generally it's just the bird I want in focus & exposed correctly. I also go with aperture priority and use as high an f-stop I can whilst retaining a reasonably fast shutter speed, especially if the subject is on the move. The Robin shots are fairly easy, as they seem to crave attention & let you get up close to photo them. It's the other stuff I struggle with, but I keep on visiting places where I'm likely to get good birding photo opportunities & snapping away. When I get home I'm happy if I've only got a handful of keepers.

On Sentry Duty Taken by Cliff Raby. Date/Time 11-Mar-2006 10:11:56 Make Konica-Minolta Model DYNAX 5D Flash Used No Focal Length 300 mm Exposure Time 1/200 sec Aperture f/7.1 ISO Equivalent 400

Jan - Touché Ollie Where are you at mate? I'm in Blackpool & it's a birding mecca - & I don't mean the slappers on the Golden Mile.

Nice one Mr Wiggly. I was coveting the 20D myself when choosing a DSLR, but couldn't afford one. I think you've got yourself a cracking camera there, I've seen some terrific 20D shots.

I doubt that she will Jan.

Judy, love the Sheffield pics, all three would've made good entries in the architecture comp. Ayjay, the lighting effect on your accidental moon shot is OK - but the one you've entered in the comp is outstanding! I really really would like to learn how to take decent moon shots (minus the scope though, I'm spending enough on camera gear without forking out for a scope aswell). Have you got any tips re the best conditions/settings etc? No pics today for me, but I did get this guy yesterday.

Evening CJ, my twopenny worth. Yep I said I'm not artistic & I'm sticking to it. My missus is the same, you should see us in B&Q when we have to choose paint to decorate, , 20 years down the line & we still always end up with the magnolia. Although what we do try & do is pinch ideas from elsewhere, magazines etc - and for me it's the same with photography. If I see a photo I like I'll watch out for circumstance where I can try & recreate it or something similar. For some the vision to see a great shot comes naturally, for others it maybe takes a greater effort. An example, this shot was taken by an amatuer photographer at a place both he & I visited the same week. I would never have remotely considered taking a shot like this, but wish I had as I think it looks great. BTW - I think Finepixs shots always show a great deal of imagination & excellent composition, so deffo must have been "a bad week" if you were lacking insppiration Finepix.

Agreed, especially re the panorama shots. Blue marlin, OK, you win, I'm starting to get a little jealous. What's the temperature like at this time of the year? Steve, Nice shot, looks a fab location & no road signs, cars, bins etc in sight to spoil the view.

Hi Sooz, it was this one I was referring to. I like the image, which has bags of interest, but it seems to all be leaning back a little. I've straightened it up a little on the one below, but then had to crop it again to get rid of the blank bits caused by rotating it. What d'ya reckon?

It's taken in my home town of Blackpool BM. I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see it's made the final three , I only entered it 'cos I'd not got anything else to submit & wasn't convinced it's really classed as architecture? My vote has gone to Mr Randles "Something old Something New". My personal favourite was Ayjays Hotel Jackdaw (I don't understand the meaning of the title though?) & I think Sooz78's entry cries out Architecture, although I think the image needs rotating a couple of degrees counter clockwise to get it perpendicular. Good luck all.

Matt, nice shots, Blackbirds are bloody hard to get sharp pics of as they don't stop still for too long. I agree with Den, you need to try & use a faster shutter speed. The first one has come out well, especially considering it's only 1/90th sec shutter speed, I'd have probably expected it to have come out blurred due to the movement of the bird. The only problem is the little green wire fence being in the way - you need to get rid of that when your Mum's not looking. The second shot looks like it's taken in a more shaded spot & your shutter speed is down to 1/60th sec. A tripod would help, but if the birds moving it's till gonna come out blurred at 1/60th. As Den says, up the ISO to try & achieve a faster shutter speed - or better still, try & get a pic of the bird in a sunny spot, when you should beable to get the ideal combo of fast shutter speed, lower ISO & smaller aperture. It took me 6 months to get a decent Blackbird shot, which funnily enough I managed yesterday at the same location as the rat I posted earlier. Cheers Cliff

A Load of Balls (not sure if this is classed as architecture, but it's all I've got ) by Cliff Raby Exif watsit Date/Time: 2006:02:28 14:40:09 Resolution: 671 x 700 Flash used: No Focal length: 75.0mm (35mm equivalent: 112mm) Exposure time: 0.0005 s (1/2000) Aperture: f/7.1 ISO equiv.: 200

Blue marlin - It looks a rubbish place to live mate, all that blue sky & crystal clear sea, I bet you get bored with it after a couple of weeks. Plus how come there's not a shopping trolley & a burnt out car dumped in that bay? It looks just too perfect to me, so I'll be sticking with Blackpool. Ollie, love the B&W shot, I've not really done any experimenting with B&W, after seeing that I'm deffo going to give it a try. Nice one! Peter, re How are you with Dogfish? Poledark - belting Collared dove shot, wish I'd taken that! He's well puffed up, d'ya reckon he's a bit chilly? As for my photo of the day, it's not a bird shot - Hurrah! Image Description = KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA Make = KONICA MINOLTA Model = DYNAX 5D Exposure Time = 1/800" F Number = F7.1 Exposure Program = Aperture priority ISO Speed Ratings = 200

Was this it nogbert?? Nice shot of what looks a cracking location.

Too many good shots have been added to single any out, so I'll just say - Fantastic shots all. Also, I'll just add - Gillies - just followed the link in your siggy to your website & had a quick shufties at some of the fine photos in your galleries there. Came across a couple that you posted on here sometime ago that inspired me to strive to take such shots. Namely a Starling on a cable & a Gull in flight. I can vividly remember seeing those images at the time you posted them on Anglers Net & pointing them out to the missus saying that's the type of shot I want to take. I'm still trying to get there - but in the meantime my missus wants a word with you about all the brass I've spent on camera gear in the process.

Lets just hope we don't all get too snappy and start taking cheap shots at each other. BTW, where's this this forum where you can fight & cuss?

Agreed re. Steves shot BM, plus I also like the dark foreboding clouds in the shot Dog Fish has posted. Great shots all, keep 'em coming.

Agreed, a cracking shot, love the way you've framed the building. What is that place? Not your weekend gaff I assume. Jan, that is one extravagant bird house, but it seems to be missing one vital ingredient, where are all the birds? Mr Wiggly, the viaduct shot is excellent, you managed to get an excellent vantage point there, thanks for sharing that fine view with us. And who left that lion there? My photo of the day, yep, you've guessed it, another birding one.

Wow, fabulous pics.

I've got a couple of ropey pics for the Challenge, I'm hoping to get something worth entering over the next few days. My problem is I'm not very artistic, I can take a picture of a building OK, but I struggle spotting an angle to make it look more interesting or dynamic. I'm hoping the comps on here will help me look at subjects in a more abstract manner. Norfolkdan, just my personal preference, but I would turn that pesky date caption thingy off on your images, it's not even that discreet & I think it distracts from the content of your photos. I know Steve likes us to display exif data, but I don't think he meant in image. I agree re. the cloud formation, it looks like someones about to get very wet. Poledark - I love the 2nd shot, fabulous composition.

Two fabulous photos there Finepix, I particularly like the first one with the sun dissapearing behind the silhouette of the trees.

Nice shots Judy, although I'm sruggling working out what the bottom third of that first image is, is it a frosty field? Here's probably the fave pic I managed today.