Eatlard

Some interesting pics there. Ant Vs Cricket - he really has lifted that right off the floor! incredible.

I see. He's doing a larger merge than I've been playing with so normally I'm happy with 3 to 5 shots (although my camera only does 3 max) whereas he's using up to 9. Interesting page though, I think I've seen it before and read through, only slight annoyance was that I don't have Photoshop to fully follow it along. Thanks tho

Corydoras, No i did get it, but my explanation was way off Thanks for clearing it up.

CJS2 - Try here. - Rawshooter for free It's pretty self explanatory in my opinion. When you have a raw shot you want to convert then use the "batch convert" - you will need to tell it where to put the new file. Also I unticked the "automatically open with" option, otherwise it immediately opens your new file up. I can't remember the exact layout as I'm at work but if you get really stuck, i'll try and post some screenies. Have fun!

Not to derail the thread at all Steve but HDR works best IMO with bracketed shots, the issue is that it is alot harder to get 3 or more individual exposures that don't just look blurred (unless that what you want) when you combine them due to very slight movement of your subject. Inside shots (churches etc) are ideal for true bracketing and static shots like buildings, scenery, parked cars, castles etc that have alot going on cloud or lightwise in the sky really bring out the best. Some subjects you just cant hope for that - try getting 3 bracketed shots of your kids or pets sitting still

I personally started in JPEG but as soon as I saw what RAW could do I havent looked back - I shoot every shot in RAW. True that processing wise it does take longer and may not be comercially viable but for me just shooting mainly for fun, I find it excellent. I pop all my RAW shots on to PC (5mb each) then slideshow them through Rawshooter, a free programme which is excellent and choose the ones I like. It allows you to make corrections to any shot that you could have done with the camera (other than focusing) - exposure values, white balance, colours etc and you can run it as a batch if you require. Still no substitute for taking a great shot in the first place but as I've said before, it's an option to use if you wish. Files are then converted to TIFFs which can be quite large - around 35meg for my 6.1 MP shots but TIFFs from the way I understand it are pure - no compression at all, which JPEG does do. Once I'm really happy with it I save it down to the size required and post it up. I took me a short while to get to grips with it but overalll if you are happy with editing JPEGs, there's little difference. Best way is to try it on something that you can experiment on and just play around with the software and see how you get on. If you don't like it..fair enough. PS - working in TIFFs is very heavy on the PC - I wouldn't attempt it without a reasonable spec machine ( say 2Ghz processor with 1 GB ram and a reasonable graphics card) otherwise it may well be a lesson in frustration. Have fun!

Here's mine from a walk at Firehills this evening. Bit of an experiment but I quite like it.

Taken in garden yesterday. Shame it's not facing me but happy with the pic.

Interesting conversation this has bought up. Talking of manipulation, surely this starts as soon as you have lenses for particular jobs doesn't it? That's manipulating your image right there, any zoom any wideangle etc....but I'm quite happy that everyone has their opinion. I try to get a reaction of some sort with my pictures whatever that may be and if they get people talking....then it's all good Happy snapping! As it's my thread ( can i say that?) I thought i'd just put you right on one detail... My name So far i've been called Eastard, Eatlord and Ealtard <--- i like this last one best. it's EATLARD.. There..thanks for listening.

Excellent detail on those. The Marbled White is one that I haven't even seen, we don't get them around Hastings as far as i know. I have a Tamron 90 and can also recommend it. Excellent lens and easy to use. Well done!

Thanks for looking These are hosted on the Wild About Britain site, an excellent place for anyone interested in Britsh Wildlife - www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk

I don't actually have Photoshop, so er no . I have Paint Shop Pro but as with all these things, I am still learning how to use the software correctly. CJS2 - Nerdy type anorak? Thanks! I guess this is the time to own up and admit I work in I.T? These certainly aren't to everyones taste which is fair enough. I guess I'm treating this the same way I treat many things, the more you know, the more options you have - it's just another string to my bow to quote a cliche. I do have some more piccies to post from my "normal" shots that i'll add later

Exactly so Steve. There's software that you can play about with the images but that's basically the gist of it. It works alot better if you shoot a static item, say a building, then the clouds and sky behind it really change and come into play. I'm working on a couple more, i'll post when im happy with them - ok now added a vase shot taken on my windowsill, still doesnt give the effect of the clouds i'm talking about but I really need a remote release for that. Here's the original for info

And from the wonder that is Google - "Chrome setting results in a more vivid image with a higher contrast and colour saturation. For example: a deeper green and a bluer sky when taking landscape images" taken from http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/camera/review/14/page_4.html for info - i typed "S7000 Chrome setting". Gotta love google Hope this helps

Ohh yes don't assume you've lost those pictures. If the PC "Blew up" - then it's normally either the power supply / motherboard / processor that goes all of which will turn your PC into a doorstop if it happens but normally the hard drive is fine. Best thing to do is to get a PC savvy friend to pop it into their PC as a slave drive (no jokes please!) and see if they can read the contents. Should be able to get them back, I've done it for people before now. Good luck!