I'd definitely go for the Sigma, more versatile, and they've really upped their game in the last couple of years. I love my 15mm Ltd, but I have to say that the Sigma 8-16mm out-performs it at 15mm, except in distortion, which I've now got the hang of anyway.

Thanks for the 3rd place, and congrats to the winner and second place!

Looks like a very thin straw to me........

If you don't mind manual focus the Samyang 85mm f1.4 is really good lens, and pretty sharp even at f1.4. SRS are selling them new on their site at £275, but on ebay they are selling it at £249. If you mention the ebay price they will match it plus free delivery, which is what I did when I bought one a few months ago.

Congratulations, David, well deserved!

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. I quite like this shot, I've seen a lot far worse examples of colour-popping. Personally I think the tree might look better partially saturated, but I don't mind it as is. However, the eye does tend to be drawn away up the tree trunk, and for that reason alone it doesn't work for me.

Most clichés become such because they were a good idea in the first place. It's only repetitiveness and over-familiarity that turn them into clichés.
Saying that, if I never see another colour-popped London bus or phone box it'll be too soon. Or another long exposure of Derwent Water.

None of your metadata survives uploading to facebook.

It's nice of someone to ask to share your image, but it doesn't stop someone else just doing a screen-grab and downloading it. The more it's shared the more likely this becomes. Personally I started to watermark all my images on facebook, and upload them at a reduced resolution. The watermark is fairly unobtrusive however. I've found a number of my images on facebook used without permission or credit, but nowhere near as many as I have from Flickr used on Tumblr, to whom I am repeatedly issuing take-down orders in spite of disabling downloading of my images from Flickr.

Just a heads up, I recently ordered a keyboard from a website called Extak.com. They kept telling me the order was delayed, now they don't answer emails and have deleted my account from their site, ie I can't log in and they say my email address is not registered. They have also not responded to any emails.

Luckily I used my Visa card, and Visa are refunding me. Meanwhile, I'd advise people not to order anything from this company.

Go and try something new, a genre you haven't explored before. Pick a subject you're not familiar with, look at some inspiring work by other photographers, and get out and take some photographs! I went through something very similar a month or two back, and then recently a huge commercial job came along unexpectedly, which has really stretched me, and I'm really enjoying it; it's forcing me to think beyond what I normally do.

I disagree with Will re putting the camera away for a while, you might not get it out again.

Hmmm, see what you mean, not noticed that before......