Welcome aboard, Katie! A fine camera you have there, and no mistake. (I have one too, so I'm biased! )

Just remember, it's digital... so at worst, you're only wasting battery, by using it and fluffing a shot or seventy. And if you use rechargeable batteries, that's even less of an issue. No wasted film to worry about, is my point.

So while you're learning, just shoot, shoot, shoot (and review when able). The only thing you can do wrong with a DSLR is to let it gather dust!

Happy snappin'

Thanks for the kind comments, peeps. Greatly appreciated.

Cutting to the chase, what do we think of the ideas I proposed for improving visibility / keeping the pot boiling? They were:

(a) 'tickler' thread - giving a sort of running commentary on entry quantities, qualities, highlights, etc.

(b) 'teaser' thumbnails - with enough detail to titillate, interest and engage, but not enough to give too much away.

Or both together?

And would you, Stefan, be prepared to be 'collator' a second time, with potentially extra work, if the ideas above get any support? I would totally understand if you said no, though.

True - but that's part of the point, isn't it - voter impartiality until polling day?

Let's break 'everybody else' into the three camps, first, because each has clear needs and involvements at various stages:

Actual Participants - on a normal compo, they post an image, and wait a 'while' (week/fortnight) for a judge to decide what the outcome is. Beyond the actual entry, there's no emotional investment after that - just waiting and hoping (and seeing what the latecomers are doing to 'beat' your image, potentially using your inspiration as their jumping-off point...)

Potential Participants - on a normal compo, their only 'emotional investment' is looking at the photos and deciding whether they think their chances are any good. "Can I beat that?" or "Hmm, maybe I won't enter, because I am clearly no good!", or "yes, I reckon it's worth my bothering because they are clearly all rubbish..." And all shades between those extremes.

Non-participants/Voters - on a normal compo, they get emotionally involved from the point they see the first image. Judgements are made, forgotten, changed, got-bored-with, and re-interested with each newly arriving entry. But in the normal compos, luckily, it's only the judge who has to exercise caution and sift through the changing feelings he or she has had during the week of changing entries. The rest of the non-participants are just hoping their favourite wins, or the judge comes up with good crit.

The crux is, imho, in the new-style compo, only actual participants may be worried about emotional involvement. Potential participants still need attracting, but it could equally be said, the negatives which prevent them entering, are gone. And as for voters, really, we don't want them to have any emotional involvement, until every photo-entry is on display together.

True, I totally agree - the 'trick' to all this, is in keeping the competition 'alive' during the submission phase, and garnering interest, and more entrants.

But maybe the person collating the entries can mitigate that by keeping a 'chatter' thread alive? Maybe saying how there are "x-many entries so far", and that they are "covering subjects as diverse as 'blah, blah'", or that we have "10 entries from K-7 users, but nothing from the K200 owners yet! Now's your chance to represent your set!" and so on. Just to tickle interest.

Or maybe the collator could put up tiny, weeny 100px-wide 'teaser snapshots' into the thread, so you can see *something*... but not enough for voters to get toooooo emotionally involved yet!?

Yes, it's more work... but personally, I really think the idea of a 'cold vote' from a mass population, on a platter of images presented all at once, is a really good facet that separates this from the potentially very subjective nature of a 'one-judge' compo. That's not to say I have anything against the 'one-judge' compos (far from it)... but this whole 'Vox Pop' spin is, I think, a great idea worth nurturing.

Unlike Flickr, and random other photo-sites that have everlasting polls, or 'ranking-by-viewing-figures' type 'polls', this forum has a good proportion of very insightful, experienced, and skilled photographers whose 'votes' really are worth hearing, plus a lot of newcomers to the art, who, even if not 'top grade art critics', share our brand and feature-set, and work with the same medium and tools - and are hence still a zillion times more worthwhile hearing from than a random selection of plebs in Facebook album comment-boxes.

Congratulations to Doug! Well done, sir. Got my vote - after much umming and ahhing. A worthy winner.

Initially I felt it was too literal - cycles an' all - but after careful study of the others, I had to put that view aside (because it had nothing to do with the technical merits of the photo itself). For me, the clincher was the composition: the echoed alignment of the guy's back with the wheel-rim, the positioning of his hands rummaging around in the back with the spindle of the wheel, his eyes looking at the bag, but aligning with the spindle also. Plus the containment of all the 'interest/action' within the wheel, and the lead-in lines from the exterior of the shot - the wall, and the lines on the floor - leading back towards the wheel, and the action.

#4 and #5 came very close to getting my vote - both were well-made, highly-technical photos that took some luck and skill in equal measure, but I felt that the cyclist in #4's expression was a bit lacklustre (not the photographer's fault, mind, but it still affected the shot), and the composition could've done with a better crop - to remove or include the half-cut cyclist on the right, and maybe the one on the left too. #5 was very nearly my vote - but I felt the depth of field was slightly too shallow. The background blur is ace, but the focus on the back of the seat, exhaust and rider's leg looks off, given that his shoulder and elbow are in such sharpness. But still, it is a classy shot that I would've been proud to take! Just pipped at the post by Doug's effort.

As for the competition - I disagree with John a tad. I agree that the absence of 'anything to see' for a while, means that the competition can lose visibility - but I don't agree with having the entries come in in dribs and drabs. I think one of the key differences with this competition (aside from its anonymity) is its 'all in one time and place' factor. I think that if the earliest photos are hanging around for a fortnight before people vote, and 'new' photos have arrived as late as voting day, then sadly, people (who are human after all! ) may tend to put more stead in the 'new'. The excitement/interest factor is always highest in stuff which we're not bored with - and two weeks is a long time for 'old' photos to be hanging around, and I think people may get tired of them (compared to other, newer photos). I'm sure I've felt this effect even in the weekly compos, tbh, though of couse, I've never had to judge one, so it may be different in that case, where a 'one-judge, one-compo' factor may put one under greater pressure to be scrupulously fair. But I think in an open voting poll by the anonymous general public, it's fairer to do one big 'reveal', and let them decide on first viewing of the entire lot.

I think the problem of visibility may be solved by keeping the entry-period shorter (one week instead of two), and flagging it up in other places around the forum, maybe? Yes, I know the collation and reposting requires more effort than a normal compo (and thanks Stefan for doing it for us this time) - but I think it pays dividends. I don't think we should give up yet. Out of little acorns, as they say... Who knows? This may go on to be a much better subscribed competition in due course...

Dammit - arrived too late at the party and missed the tombola!

Has all the stuff gone now, Robbie?

Either way - wanted to say big congrats on the upcoming babber. Was in your shoes myself only 2 years ago! Wouldn't have missed it for the world, mind. Look after the missus well!

Oh - and cameras - really, really, REALLY don't be without one... even a cheapy. I notice Mowog is flogging a 3MP Optio in a nearby thread for 25 quid. You will want *something*... and *ALL* the time handy.

I guarantee you will shoot gigabytes worth of shots over the first couple of years. Doesn't matter if they're on the crummiest camera-phone or point-n-shoot compact - you'll still love every shot, and so will the grandparents. Remember all the family will want them emailed to them on a weekly basis for the few first months, too! So small and simple is probably better (and less pricey if it gets covered in milk, too!)

And you only get one chance to make that kind of a record... they grow up SOOOO fast. Before you've had a chance to properly set up a DSLR for a decent portrait, the b*gger will have grown two inches and started calling you 'Dada' - and learned how to point at the biscuit tin, with doe-eyes that would melt even the hardest heart.

You mark my words... you'll want a camera in your pocket, ALL the time, mate! And I promise it will make you smile and weep in equal measure for years to come! Already we look back at our little un's 'baby' shots and wonder where the heck that little bundle went, and who swapped him for a mischevious toddler!!

All the very best to all three of you. Hold on tight and enjoy the ride...

Bringing the thread back on-topic for a sec, here's an instance of 'Pentaxian Cameraderie' that maybe sets us apart from others...

Yesterday evening, I was bimbling around by Bath's Pump Rooms, taking some shots of an old Routemaster bus that was parked there. This chap walking by (without any visible camera) says, out of the blue, "Nice Pentax you're shooting with" and smiled. After I'd got over the initial shock, I stopped him and double-checked that he really had said what I thought he'd said!

And yes, of course, he had... turned out he was a Pentaxian too, and used a K20D and K200D in a professional capacity, and was looking to get a K-x too, for the low-light capability.

We somehow got onto the subject of old lenses, and he mentioned he had a Vivitar 28mm lens which he still used, and loved - "so do I", says I. "Is it a Close Focus?" says he? "Dunno," says I "...I think so... I got it in the 1980s, and haven't used it for ages."

Well he gave me a tip to go searching for Vivitar serial numbers online, and explained how Vivitar didn't make lenses, but commissioned them out, and how some are actually rather excellent.

And to cut it short, it turns out that the Vivitar 28mm f2.8 lens that I had - which I was all set to give away to my niece because I figured it was probably junk - is in fact the 'hallowed' K02 Komine Close Focus variant (albeit in Ricoh-mount guise, with the P-pin carefully removed).

Karma? Kamerama? Pentax K-mount Kameraderie? Dunno what you'd call it - but heck, I'm very glad I met that bloke!

Phew! Well in that case, I hope you enjoy it, and come back well-rested, happy and replete with plenty of sumptuous top-notch hotel food. And to blazes with Mars and moons, eh?

ROFL.

Forgive me, but I've been watching that urban myth roll round every year for the last seven. It's such a shame that it's not true - but I really do worry sometimes that some folks will literally go to the ends of the earth to get clear skies on those days - yet still never double-check that it's not a hoax. I do hope your Portugal trip wasn't arranged specially?

I just wish the line from the original email: "NO ONE ALIVE WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN" was actually true, insofar as the email itself was concerned. We may never see the alignment again, but I reckon we'll see that email year, after year, after year, after year, until the Internet touches the Sun.

W00t! My first 'honourable mention' in a compo! I'm well-pleased with joint-third (at the very least, it means I haven't got to worry about judging!).

Thank you, Doug - for the excellent judging and critique, and of course, the third-place honour.

And well done to Don. I must confess as soon as I saw that photo go up, I thought - dat's it... game over, man, game over! A very inventive bit of work, and extremely well executed. Please don't make that sort of shot the subject for the next compo, or I am scr3w3d.

Been looking for a Tokina data-site myself - if you find one, do please let me know, too!

Dita von Teese? Hmmm... had her.. she was rubbish. Bit '19-Forties' for my tastes.