Gravelrash's third point seems sound advice!

As a parting comment, do consider the lettering and photo in tandem. It'll be the difference between a successful and not so successful design. On the back, eg, will there be a blurb? (It would be usual to have one there, unless you are producing a jacket with flaps.) If so, where will it go and how will it contend with the figures in the photo?

I'd suggest that the image is a little too 'busy'. I appreciate that it is attempting to convey the book's subject, but it has perhaps let the ideas trump the visual impact.

Is there enough visual space for the title (assuming it's going at the top)? Ideally, you need more sky. Although the area reserved for the spine is clear of people, the bushes and trees, the sky, and the pathway are very different (and therefore difficult) backgrounds for the lettering (author name, title, imprint) to run through. The lettering is unlikely to have an even prominence, crucial on a spine. I would suggest interrupting the wrap-round and running a solid colour down the spine (for over-printing or reversing out of).

The suggestion made elsewhere is that Amazon is attempting to protect its “secret sauce” for creating product photographs in front of a seamless background, possibly in order to prevent competitors’ photographs from looking 100% identical in terms of lighting.

That is at least plausible, and ties in with what we know of Amazon's almost Darwinian pursuit of competitive advantage.

When I took up digital SLR photography just a few short years back, I found Pentax User helpful in numerous (mainly obvious) ways. I have found it less interesting/lively recently, but I'm unsure whether that is me or the site. Rather like magazine subscriptions, after about 18 months the same topics tend to resurface (alongside some new ones), and what was novel becomes rather tired. It was always thus of course. But what has certainly happened is that a number of photographers whose work I particularly admired have left Pentax and, so, also the site. There are some very talented folk left, fortunately.

As with all 'open' sites, there is a huge variety of interests on display and some posters devote generous slices of their time to contributing, but, naturally, there is no editorial control and that means that not every prolific poster is prominent because of his or her (but usually his) wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

As for posting photos in the Gallery, I'd echo David Trout's feeling that (in this instance) more can often be less, and that greater self-selection is no bad thing. Whether any individual photo gets much noticed depends partly upon its own qualities, but also on how busy the traffic is, which sometimes simply means multiple not-very-varied photos from one source. The etiquette appears to be not to offer serious criticism unless the poster makes it clear that that is what is desired. Criticism is all part of the game, though, and we worry excessively sometimes about giving mortal offence. One place where criticism is required -- and given -- is in the Competitions. On more than one occasion I've read a critique of a shot of mine and thought it wrong-headed only later to come to see its validity and to be grateful for it.

A day off for the rowers? Nicely caught -- you definitely need to know your camera on such occasions. The overcast day may have been less than ideal for the light, but the silver lining of that literal cloud is that the gold barge stands apart from the rest of the scene.

Worth entering the phrase 'Bristol cameras review' into Google before jumping.

Reviews on the Internet are of course sometimes not what they seem to be, or hang around long after circumstances have changed, but even so if I were a prospective customer, I'd want to read them -- and come to my own view.

FWIW, LR6 is presumably pretty close now (at least the beta version). Be interesting to see what's in it, how it'll be offered (for sale and subscription, as now?), and what the cost will be.

Just read the other thread on this. Amazing that SRS offers the 2yr warranty (certainly likely to be considered a matter of contract) yet Pentax seem uncertain.

I wonder whether the shops themselves choose (or not) to underwrite the 2nd year of warranty(?). It is certainly one of SRS's selling points, prominently used by them. As you say, Park Cameras is seemingly entirely silent on its website about warranty matters, other than encouraging customers to leave the retailer out of any warranty matters and contact the manufacturer's repair centre direct -- for the sake, it writes, of expedition.

It may be of course that, regardless of warranty, you still have some rights against the retailer. Depends whether you want to divert energy, time etc to slogging it out.

But perhaps Park Cameras will be embarrassed into offering the same service as their rival. Wouldn't do for it to get around that Park Camera's offers the lesser deal.

I find my 15mm very useful, but rarely put it on the camera for landscapes. Many of the shots I take (even in mountains) are in the 30s, some in the 20s. It may seem counter-intuitive, but it seems to me that very wide angle is infrequently best for landscape.