Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I really appreciate them! I must confess I'd been on tenterhooks, shopping in town today, wondering whether I'd get a royal pasting when I logged back in to the forum this evening! Happy to see that it wasn't!

My especial thanks to Algernon for two things in particular:

The info about the forum resizing the images - I hadn't realised that. Well, I lie... I did realise the Flickr site 'wants' 1024, and this site maxes out at 800 - but I didn't stop to consider the implications of that on-the-fly resizing. I should've. Browsers are not good at that kind of thing, and I really should know better.

Is this why so many more people seem to use Photobucket instead? Or do folks have a 'Flickr' trick that still gets a big image there, but not here? (Thinks... maybe I could just post the link to the next sized image on Flickr, instead? Hmmm...?)

And yes, there is definitely a blue cast in the last image, though I had not spotted it before. Thanks for pointing it out... it's EXACTLY the kind of thing I wanted to hear. I'm smacking myself for not having checked for colour-cast and the like before uploading. My eyes are not sufficiently trained to do this sort of thing routinely yet, and (now that I see it) I can't believe I missed it!

Moreover, I'm not fully sure why it's even there! The original shot (from which this is cropped) clearly shows that the gull and roof is in considerable shadow, so maybe that didn't help matters.

The other shots, though, have less (and in some cases, no) blue cast at all, but it's still here and there, it seems. I can't account for it. The camera was in 'Bright' mode (of the Custom Image settings) and that's the mode I practically live in. Maybe this has a bearing? The White Balance was in AWB mode, so that *ought* to be ok, but I will run some more tests at the same spot at the same time of day, using the Daylight mode, and see if that makes a difference. I'll also try some shots onto some graduated grey paper, and see whether there's a colour cast there, because it would mean all my shots are affected.

Final thing might simply be the amount of water nearby, and the sunlight refracting and reflecting around all over the place - but this doesn't really wash with me (pardon the pun).

Thanks again for the insights and encouragement, peeps. Really appreciate it. I can show the missus and not be too embarrassed, I think!

Stefan, you make some excellent points, and I'm sure T-T will get them in due course! I did briefly mention that the light-meter can 'lie' (or rather, be mistaken) by backlit scenes or reflective/bright-white subjects. Underexposure is common in these situations. Conversely, photos taken indoors, and metered from, say, the darker area of the room, can leave the window in the background looking like the surface of the sun - because the meter has over-exposed the shot, believing the darker areas were the 'norm', for that whole scene, when they weren't.

Correcting this kind of problem by bracketing is, I totally agree, a bit of a cheat. Heck - it's a lot of a cheat (but I have a 16GB SDcard, and more hard drive space than Bill Gates, probably! ). But the thing is, at this stage, I think T-T needs to 'get results', and understand (over time) why she's getting them, and the problem of dealing with the iffy ones will come later.

For now, bracketing at least means the shoot wasn't a waste; the good photo wasn't lost forever and the fun and pleasure of getting 'that shot' can still be had! Who cares (at this stage) if it came via the +1 shot, or the -1?

I'm a firm believer in positive feedback... if the learning process is rewarding (even if the rules and laws are not totally understood - yet), then one is more likely to continue. Bracketing simply increases the chances of rewards, boosts confidence, and enables us to think more about "why did the meter get tricked by that scene?" and actually have the two (or three) images on hand to compare, and make sense of them. Then we can learn to spot those situations where it's misled - and in time, skip bracketing, and be 'on the money' with a single shot more times than not.

So yeah... I recommend a bit of cheating - wholeheartedly! At least at the beginning. Quit bracketing when your confidence says "I don't need to do that for this shot", and don't be afraid to fall back on it if the shot is too good to miss and there's any doubt you'll bag it!

Regarding the Green Button thing - yeah, on the K-x it boils down to a choice, alas, because we don't have any other button to do Optical Preview with - so it is an 'either or' thing. Personally, the preview is my preference - but I totally agree that being able to just 'zap' to a balanced shot with P-LINE (even if you then immediately change the stops up or down from there; one up on the shutter counteracted by one down on the aperture, and so on), is still a very useful tool. It does indeed get you to the metered 'balanced shot' quickly, and that is not to be sneezed at! You'll still have plenty of thinking and learning to do, as soon as you move those dials and change that balance again!

And of course while learning, the P-LINE green button is a great rescue tool, enabling you to quickly get back that balance, if you DO mess it up so badly that you're lost!

So, T-T there are plenty of choices. Many ways to skin the same cat, if you'll pardon the metaphor. Play with them; find the ones you like, or which work, or which give you the feedback buzz you need to keep enjoying and carrying on!

BTW - of your last three shots. My fave is the third one. Depth of field is perfect almost all the way across the bloom (front-to-back); background nicely defocused but still with a hint of greenery in there to both act as a contrast to the bloom and give it a context. And I particularly like the way you've captured the darker blue of the tiny flowers against the mass of pink/mauve ones. Your other shots didn't get those.

My only real crits with that shot would be:

- the area on the far right, which seems defocused just a tad. Possibly it projects forward just that bit too far to stay within the DOF?

- the composition maybe chops off one end of the buddleia, which, as I recall, usually go to a nice rounded point - and I think you could make something of that. It'd certainly make the shot look more obviously 'a buddleia', and less like a hydrangea, or some other 'bunch' of nice flowers.

So here's a challenge - why not try and shoot more ALONG the bloom, at a 'three-quarter' angle? Get the tip in, and deal with the increased depth of field that you'll need in order to get all of its length in focus (rather than its girth, which you've mastered already!). But still use the DOF to defocus the main body of the bush and the greenery behind the bloom. That'll keep you occupied for a while, I'm sure! (but feel free to ignore me if you think this is a fools errand, of course!)

Voted, and not for myself, I promise! Thanks for the feedback on my question, though. I'm with John & Gwyn in that voting for oneself seems unsporting - but I thought I'd check! It'd be harsh if everyone else did it, and one didn't - especially if they then lost by one vote!

Strangely, Doug's comment about governments has reminded me that elections are invariably one contest where the applicants DO vote for themselves - usually with a media circus in tow, as they make a great show of putting their pointlessly folded-up bit of paper into the ballot box!

Bl**dy prima donnas Hehe. Only joking.

Seriously, though, it was too good to lose from the forum... you just needed to give us all time to chew things over, I guess!

He might have - but he would still have got short shrift from his driver. It's a great way of wasting coal (something like 60% of the effective power of the coal goes straight up the chimney, unburned, when you do that). Plus it clinkers up the grate, because the coal 'weeps' all its oils and tars out and makes cleaning the firebox harder later. Worst of all, it means that the steam-pressure is still dropping - usually the reason for putting the coal on in the first place - and if the driver is intending to need that pressure for, say, getting up an incline, he's going to look pretty evil-eyes at you if his boiler pressure needle is low halfway up the hill. Firing really is a black art, and no mistake. Except that it should be a light grey art, strictly speaking! That's the perfect combustion colour, for max efficiency.

Oh my god. I'm a coal geek. Please shoot me now...

You should try it from the footplate! I've only done it at 25mph on a few smaller locos, and on preserved lines rather than mainline... but by golly, it's still awe-inspiring. Searing heat, steam, fire and hot water squirting out various things they usually shouldn't be, rattling yourself half to bits, bouncing around the cab like a pair of pants in a washing machine - and about as much use! Great fun. I highly recommend a day's 'driver experience' (our railway still does them for the wannabe dads, etc). Bags of photo-ops, too. You try getting a white-hot fire to expose right, so that you can see the flame-bed, all the different colours, and the firebox doors looking sharp and bright too! Now there's a challenge!

POST DELETED... sorry, it's sold now

Class! (and yeah, pun intended, I'm not ashamed to admit! )

That raises some interesting questions, Stefan. I must confess I'd forgotten that the Green button (by default) basically puts the camera into momentary 'P' (Program) mode and arbitrarily chooses a correct, but random, set of shutter-speed and aperture for the correct metered exposure. I say random, in that you never know which it's going to end up with - except that they will be 'correct', exposure-wise.

Of course, as you suggest, you can alter the Green button behaviour so that it no longer does this 'P-LINE' method, and instead does 'Tv SHIFT' or 'Av SHIFT', and changes ONLY the shutter-speed or aperture, respectively.

However, to me, that's really just like putting the camera into normal, dialled-up Av mode or Tv mode (respectively). Being honest, I therefore don't see the point in using Manual mode, if all one is going to do is P-LINE it, Av it, or Tv it anyway!

For me, the thing with Manual mode is that I'm 'training' myself - so using a single button push to 'make a right shot' seems wrong (but that's a purely personal view). Alternatively, I'm in manual mode because I want to 'push' the shot outside the normal setup - in which case I can appreciate that P-LINE/Tv-SHIFT/Av-SHIFT can be useful for setting a starting point (if a lot slower to set up the last two, than to use the respective mode!).

Instead, I prefer to hook the Green button up to 'Optical Preview' - then I can hold it down and SEE the depth of field that the shot will give me. Then I can change the aperture to get what I want in focus, re-using the Optical Preview each time, and THEN get the metering set up correctly by changing the shutter speed (or ISO).

Of course, that Optical Preview will also work in Aperture mode, which saves me the job of tweaking the shutter speed manually - but then I'm not *learning* - or experiencing the shot's setup in a way that trains my 'eye' for the future.

I guess it's all about what one wants to achieve, and whether knowing and learning is part of the fun, or whether we just want to choose a particular aspect (DOF, freezing-action, etc) and let the box do the rest. That's what I love about this camera, compared to my old ME Super... it is SOOOO flexible, and it makes far better shots possible, quickly, and teaches me much faster than my old beloved rig!

As for the Magic Lantern guide, I read in several places that the publishers had decided in their infinite wisdom not to do one of the K-x. No idea why. My thanks to Mike for the recommendation of Yvon's ebook - I emailed him recently to ask about a 'sampler' before I bought it, and I was waiting for a reply... so I think I might just go ahead and get it anyway, if you think it's a good 'un.

Dr Orloff - one thing that caught my eye when I saw your excellent still-life study... that mug.
It says 'STRENGHT' instead of 'STRENGTH' on it! It's been niggling me all week!
Where on earth did it come from?

I'd definitely concur with John's comment about buying 'easy' lenses. I have an old Tokina 80-200mm f4 from my film days, which I used for about a fortnight before deciding I'd had enough of messing with full manual, and no aperture readout. It's just too awkward to get the metering right. It's not impossible (use the Optical Preview mode on the green button, and then meter and set accordingly), but it is a PITA.

So I bought a 55-300mm f4-5.8, and I have not been disappointed. Effectively, on this body, it's a 450mm lens, and can really 'pull 'em in' from afar, and feels way more useable than my old Tok. It retracts shorter, too, and is better balanced - and of course, the ability to autofocus and use all camera modes is just invaluable. I wouldn't go back.

I've also got an old Ricoh/Rikonen 50mm f1.7 prime that's fully manual too - with the same problems as the Tok. I got some great shots off it, just as Pete describes, but it took a fair bit of setting up, and with kids, it'd be too long in the doing, and the shots would be half lost, I reckon! So I've just bought (via this very forum) a genuine Pentax 'A' 50mm f2 lens, which I'm really looking forward to (it'll arrive this Sunday, by father-in-law courier!) It'll still need manual focusing, of course - but the metering (and consequent warnings) and aperture control will be much, much easier to handle.

So yeah - I'm with John... go for something at least from the 'A' aperture-priority capable era, and if poss, go for a DA, DAL or (at a push) FA lens and have the full autofocus monty in there to boot. It does make life easier - and its not cheating! It'll mean you spend more time shooting, than fannying about, which is more likely to make it enjoyable. You can always do the trickier stuff later, when you've got into your groove, and really know what tricks you're wanting to do!

One last comment - comparing the 50-200 and the 55-300, personally, I think the latter is better value. They're both f4 at the short end, and the difference is only f0.2 at the long end - so there's not much in it, exposure-wise. However, the focal length difference is considerable: that 100mm difference is, in effective terms, 150mm - and is the different between a 300mm lens and a 450! Quite a lot. And pricewise, there's not a great deal in it - Warehouse Express were quoting £199 for the 50-200, whereas I could've bought my 55-300 from LCE for exactly the same price! As it turned out, I bought it from my local independent for £162! Obviously, do your own research into any quality differences, but I expect they're probably equally good glass, most likely.

Cor blimey! There it was, gone!

I saw it yesterday - and thought about commenting, but didn't want to be first!

For what it's worth, I thought it was a fine photo! Equal of many I've seen in my (warning, geek-alert) books on trains, of which I have a few (ahem).

I was going to comment on how the fireman would most probably have been getting a b*ll*cking from his driver, for having chucked on too much coal, and caused such black smoke. It's a cardinal sin amongst firemen (and I speak from experience... I used to be a volunteer on the footplate myself, at a local steam railway).

But then I realised, that comment wasn't about the photograph, as much as about the subject... so I kept schtum.

But I did like the photo - excellent perspective, and the slightly imperfectly-straight rails, the 'fug' behind caused by the smoke, which neatly obscured the background, and the different tones of the overhead wires, some reflecting the light, some not.

Like I said, I've seen far worse gracing the pages of Ian Allan mags, and yours was much better than them! Put it back!