I use Raw DNG instead of PEF, which gets around the problem of some software not recognising PEF files. For some reason I did not get a software disk with my K7, so I have never tried using anything except Lightroom and CS4.

I really like the first one, but the sky looks slightly turquoise to me? Maybe the WB is out a touch? It may be my monitor of course, lovely shot nonetheless. The second one is nice too, though the horizon being so central makes me like it less than the first shot.

Although I think the fish shot is a good photograph, I don't like it much, probably because it's a picture of slimy fish...

The flower is a nice shot though, and as Neil says the hoverflies aren't that obvious at first, in fact to be honest I hadn't noticed them until he pointed them out. I like the background except for the dark blob mid upper left side, which is a bit distracting as I keep trying to work out what it is. The background colour sets off the flower nicely though.

What a bargain this lens is! I don't think the seller quite realised what it is they were selling.

Thanks for the comments, Neil! You're right about the composition, and it's great when you can break all the "rules" and still get a good result. When I saw the Coke truck, I immediately thought I have to get a picture of it, and the colours of that and the taxis made me think of processing the shot to bring out the colours, which probably helped in getting the shot in some weird way! I took six shots, and for a couple I tried to follow the rule of thirds, without getting run over in the process! I also got a shot with the truck filling the frame, and one with one of the taxis moving, and blurred, but it didn't come out as well as this one. It's the one on here that grabbed me when I got home and looked at them, especially after processing it. The conventional shots lacked something, even though compositionally they should have been better.

It's great to get good feedback, and, to be honest, I thought a lot of people on here would think it too processed. I've been pleasantly surprised! And that someone would consider putting one of my prints on their wall is indeed an honour! I am back in the UK for a week soon, and if you'd like an A3 copy, I'd be happy to send one if you can mount it yourself. I can get them printed for just over £1, and it would be well worth that knowing it's on someones wall!

I'd not thought of trying to sell it, but you never know. Maybe I'll drop Coke a line....

Thanks again for your comments and encouragement.

Best regards,
Jon.

I really like the last shot, Pentaxophile. It's a fantastic lens, mine has hardly been off my camera since I got it! The three on my "Gotham" thread were taken with it. I've found that using it in manual focus can often get round the problem of softness at the edges (when I manage to guess the right distance to focus), so I guess it's something to do with the focus being different at the edges due the light travelling different distances to the sensor. But like Tim it hurts my brain thinking about it.

Thanks for the comments! And yes Gareth I think there is a Subway near there.

i have just had these pics printed at A3 along with a few others and I am well pleased with the results

Last two for me too, I especially like the second last one, the dead ivy makes the shot, lovely!

Lovely shots, especially no. 2. I really like the light and reflections. I think the first one has been cropped a bit too much. I'd like to see a bit more of the original shot.

I like the mono shots too. In fact, I like the Arbroath smokies shot very much. I would go as far as saying it's one of the very best images I have seen on here.

Thanks for the comments Neil: there's no big secret to the processing, I used Topaz Adjust, a Photoshop plug-in. Saying that, it has taken me a while to get the hang of Topaz. If you don't get the levels absolutely spot on everywhere in the file before you process it, it introduces a lot of noise, so I adjust the levels selectively in different parts of the image, then copy it to another layer and run Topaz on the new layer. This works even if some of the image is blown, as long as you adjust the levels sliders so they are at the ends of the histogram thingy in the levels box. Occassionally I fade this layer a bit to get the effect I want before flattening the image. Sometimes a curves adjustment afterwards improves the result, which it did in this case.

There's lots of presets with Topaz, but they are all rubbish imo. Another problem is the image does not look the same in Topaz as it does when it's imported back into Photoshop, so it's taken me a while to find out how each adjustment affects the final result. The mono had a very small amount of adjustment in Topaz too, and I use it's noise reduction feature for most of my shots: it gives much better results than Noise Ninja, but can take up to ten minutes to process!!!! For mono, the file needs to be mono before using Topaz.

If you get a copy of Topaz, drop me a PM and I'll give you some tips on getting different effects from it. It's great fun and can be useful even in "straight" shots.

Best Regards,
Jon.