... I do incline to the view that negotiations should be carried out by PM, though, although that's not my call, it's the moderators'.

Thanks for jumping in on my behalf but I don't think there's a problem.

yke78uk did show interest in my one, but as I indicated on my thread, he was a little too late, since I was by then already in the process of negotiating with a buyer.

So for him to indicate interest in this one is quite in order, I think.

Also, I have no problems with someone else advertising another example of the lens at a different price. There are many factors influencing the price you pitch something at, and we each have to come to our own conclusions. I pitched the price of my one at the upper end of the range of prices it's fetched on eBay in recent times, since it's in excellent condition, but beyond that it's hard to know what 'a fair price' is.

All we can do is pick a reasonable price as far as we're able, and be open to consider offers.

I'm sure they are - they all seem very nice, and refreshingly not bothered about makes of camera (not a single one has asked me what camera I use).

The only thing I'm hesitating about is the not being able to, say, book the room in the church hall they use, and then as a member be allowed to get the lights out of the cupboard where they're kept, and use them myself with my tame model.

Even the most helpful types will doubtless tell me all the things I'm doing wrong, but in 10 minutes a month I'm not going to get much chance to develop.

I went to one of their "Digital Group" meetings. It was an interesting, convivial, and perfectly good series of short talks on a few aspects of PhotoShop. But it remains the case that I learn more every time Matt posts something.

Well it's funny you should say that - I'm considering doing just that. My interest in the book on lighting came about because the club I'm thinking of joining has some studio lighting equipment, and sessions with a model from time to time.

But it's basically a ten minute slot to take pictures on the night they meet, which at my level of experience is nowhere near enough - I need time to experiment and practise.

And sadly, there's no facility for club members to use the lighting kit on their own. So I need to figure out a way of learning - and the cost of the studio lighting course at my local adult college is as much as the cost of buying some kit of my own.

So I thought I'd teach myself the basics from a suitable book.

I agree about the 'teach you how' books in general - all the ones I've found are far too basic.

Someone recently recommended "The complete guide to light and lighting in digital photography", by Michael Freeman, in the context of my first brush with studio work.

Since it's my birthday soon, with great restraint, I added it to my Amazon wish list, rather than ordering it straight away.

I notice there are a number of other books by him, including one on macro, one on people, and one on colour.

Does anyone know if any of these are any good too?

Thanks for this.

It appears to be the same file as the one I downloaded - at least the size in bytes is identical.

Sadly, however, whether I uninstall the version I have first or not, it still just tells me that the trial licence has expired, and won't run.

Having time-limited trials is a right pain, IMO. It isn't always convenient to do all the evaluation you need within a short time. A 'number of runs' limited trial would make a lot more sense.

I'll probably give this a go, thanks.

This is probably going to be a candidate for "dumbest question of the week" award, but there it is.

I want to give SP a try. I downloaded and installed it a couple of months ago, but didn't get round to using it. Of course, the trial period has expired, and now it won't run (even if I uninstall it and reinstall it, as is the way with these things).

I can't find a separate download for the free version on the SP web site, and I can't run the version I've got.

Any clues as to the, presumably blindingly obvious, thing I'm missing here?

Good point. I've sent him a message thanking him for the payment. Now it's my turn to sweat, hoping that I've packed it Ok, and worrying about whether I've missed something that would make my description inaccurate.

Well, I've received payment via PayPal. Yet to ship and exchange feedback. Still find the whole process slightly nerve-wracking, to be honest. I daresay I'll get used to it.

Those advising patience were quite right.