Photo Challenge #19: Wildlife and Nature

[Steve Randles]

BTW Steve - are the fine people at Printbiz still sponsoring this comp & sending the winner their photo on a mousemat & coaster?

 

I sent a good many winners shots away to Printbiz a while back and I have had no contact since, I've tried direct to the site about a week ago. I'm hoping they are just on summer vacation or something as I have not as yet had a reply.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

Steve...

[peter mccue]

I see me & Peter are currently neck & neck in the poll [insert biting nails smiley here] - Good luck in the voting Peter & also to NurseJudy.

 

Well done to all those who entered, I was surprised my Curlew made the final three ahead of Jaybees Kingfisher, which to me is really something special & would've got my vote with no hesitation. I suppose we all look at things differently though, I note Dan's also listed his top 3 & again the kingfisher's not in there either, so like I say, we all have our own particular favourites.

 

Unlucky Jaybee, that would've looked good on a mousemat.

 

BTW Steve - are the fine people at Printbiz still sponsoring this comp & sending the winner their photo on a mousemat & coaster?

 

Thanks Cliff & good luck to yourself & Nursejudy also.

 

I must admit I was gobsmacked (but delighted) to make the final three, I really thought the Kingfisher would have been there, plus your Goldfinch as well. I'm well happy to be in the final count no matter what happens. I think AN has some really talented photographers on its site & its great to have these quality shots to look & hopefully learn from.

[nursejudy]

learn from ...hopefully ,the bird pictures are awesome

good luck to everyone

[TubularBelle]

Do not get too cocky people,new kid on the block may kick some ass only joking Looks like I will be getting an Olympus MJU 7 next month.

 

Please be patient with me as know nothing about photography !!! Basically I am buying it purely for "fish shots" and general scenery stuff.

 

Because I do fish at "odd" hours may have a decent sunrise/sunset/wildlife snap tp post up. All advice taken on board. Cheers team

 

Look forward to seeing your photos Snatcher. My first thought though when reading your post was 'I hope he doesn't get sand and/or dust in his camera like we did from taking it out onto the beach and into the bad weather'. Now I know that this is a fishing site and almost every one who enters these comps besides me probably first bought their cameras in order to photograph fish. And I certainly would not have had the opportunity to join this great site and post photos because my partner HB had no interest in Photography at all until he started dreaming of catching that elusive giant Mulloway and capturing it to share/brag with his mates. Our camera is only a cheapy I guess, we paid $300 for it on ebay, $600 retail, a Sony DSC P100, but it is so full of '****' now it is practically unusable for the Comps. We took some shots of Koalas for the Wildlife Comp but we couldn't zoom in on them because the sky had big black spots all over it. The frustrating thing is that even if we had the cash to buy a new camera, HB would want to take it straight to the beach and I would want him to use the old camera for his fish shots and keep the new camera for the Comps and other uses

 

Does anyone else have this problem with sand or dust or use two different cameras for this reason? I know I would be terrified to pay a lot of money for a really good camera and then risk it getting dirt in it. I am only guessing that the English are possibly more into lake and river fishing or boat fishing than beach fishing which is all HB does but I'm sure it is still an issue for most of you, you still have bad weather and dust.

Edited August 25, 2006 by TubularBelle

[rabster]

Does anyone else have this problem with sand or dust or use two different cameras for this reason? I know I would be terrified to pay a lot of money for a really good camera and then risk it getting dirt in it. I am only guessing that the English are possibly more into lake and river fishing or boat fishing than beach fishing which is all HB does but I'm sure it is still an issue for most of you, you still have bad weather and dust.

 

TB, my dslr has dust or maybe sand on the sensor, until recently it's been mainly just one spot towards the top right of the image & has usually been easy to edit it out using the spot healing tool or clone stamp, but recently it seems to have moved nearer the centre of the image, which is a pain, plus I've got a few smaller specks of dust showing up elsewhere.

 

I'm now at the stage where I'm going to try & clean the sensor, probably initially with one of the compressed air kits to try & blow it off. Can anyone recommend the best/safest method of removing dust from the sensor?

[Steve Randles]

DONT use compressd air!! The can has water in it and it will be deposited onto your sensor!! Use a bulb blower to blow away loose dust. Dont even blow on it yourself this has the same effect as the aerosol.

 

I am awaiting a sensor cleaning kit and am hoping on reviewing it for here as camera cleaning is something not discussed much - yet.

 

Steve...

[Guest Jaybee]

I'll repeat what Steve said so that it sinks deep into your brain Rabster - DO NOT USE COMPRESSED AIR PRODUCTS

I have used Digi-Pads and Eclipse fluid for the last 2 years - easy to use and gives good results. Available from Warehouse express.

I am thinking of buying the Arctic Butterfly by Visible Dust as the reviews on this are very favourable.

[nursejudy]

looks like we have a winner

[Steve Randles]

BTW Steve - are the fine people at Printbiz still sponsoring this comp & sending the winner their photo on a mousemat & coaster?

 

I've just had contact with Patrick at Printbiz, they will be dispatching prizes for winners of challenges #7 through to #15 this week.

 

Steve...

[peter mccue]

Wow! what a weekend, I had a double figure Barbel last night & now I've won the photo comp

 

The quality of photo's on here just seems to get higher & higher, & no way did I think I would post a pic that would win, I was delighted to get into the final three.

 

Rabster, Nursejudy, Jaybee, Medway, Steve et al, you've been robbed.

 

Right now where's those Lottery tickets.