Nice shots Clarky!

Think I told you before about the one-legged German that climbed it the same time as us, didn't I? He was quicker on his crutches than we were without.

Were the camels near Alice Springs? We did a ride a mile or so south of Heavytree Gap, and rode along the Todd River bed. Happy days...

Dan

That's exactly how it's panned out for me (and I love it! ). I started off (6 years ago) selling Limited Edition Prints of my nature photos, and could make some good money at it, but the last couple of years has seen the market (for me at least) dry up. Luckily I was already running workshops, and for the last year or so have been offering 1-2-1 tuition, and the tuition side has easily taken over from the sales side.

The beauty of it for me too, is that I do the tuition (either a workshop or 1-2-1) and that's it, no after sales hassle like getting prints done, mounting them, them getting lost in the post etc.

I'm semi-professional, I work part time for Essex Wildlife Trust which pays the bills, and everything else is a nice bonus on top. And I absolutely love doing it too, meeting different people, helping them get the most from their cameras and their hobby. Yes, there are many more people these days getting half-decent photos from their shiny new DSLRs, and they're my market.

Could I earn a living from photography alone? Probably, but I'd have to be much more aggressive in my marketing and business, almost certainly do more portraits (I did some at a bellydance hafla the other night and it was great fun, but I wouldn't want to do it week-in, week-out). As it is I have an enjoyable job, which brings in enough money, and is largely stress free!

Dan

Wilkinson Cameras in Carlisle stock binoculars, according to their website. They have a wide range of makes too.

At work we stock Hawke Optics, which are very good value for money. If you could stretch to around £300, the Frontier ED model is superb, one of our regular customers has just replaced his £1,000 Leicas with a pair.

If you can't stretch to those, the Endurance range is around £100 - £160, depending on model.

Dan

The exit pupil is a simple calculation of Objective lens diameter, divided by the magnification. So for the ones you linked to Martin, it would be 50mm/16 = 3.125mm.

For Shim's 8-20 x 24 bins, the exit pupil at 20x magnification would be just 1.2mm. They obviously suit him, but most people find a 20x mag too much to handhold, and the image too dim with such a small objective lens.

Exit pupil is the equivalent of a lens aperture, and there's a good description of it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_pupil

The best bit of advice I can offer is to go somewhere and try out as many different pairs as you can. You may find you prefer a roof prism 8x32 pair, or a porro 10x50, or a porro 8x21...

Dan

I had one, and loved it until the thread went on the bolt, and then it was like that baby Giraffe was never going to stand up, if you get my drift...

I got a new bolt for it, but the thread seemed different, and it wouldn't tighten up.

However, just to throw a spanner in the works, I was finding that it wasn't holding its position as well as it used to, the legs were starting to slip, and my Manfrotto is a better (in my opinion) all round tripod, being very nearly as good for macro, and better for everything else.

Dan

Amin, I would paint everything in your shed black, or even better, drape black velvet everywhere. You can see (what looks like) piles of boxes that the flash is stood on, and the insides of your 'barn doors' are the worst culprits for refelctions I think. The obvious rectangles are quite out of keeping with the subject.

Interesting shots though, and I don't really know how you do them.

Dan

I'm sure George will be most put out that you haven't noticed him here of late. He posted only yesterday, I think.

Admittedly it wasn't one of his most memorable remarks, but still...

Dan

That's got to win the 'most original excuse' award surely? Didn't know we had a Llama farmer here.

Hope the births go well, would be lovely if you can make it to the meet though.

Dan

Really wish I could be there, but I'm working tomorrow.

You lot have fun, won't you!

Dan

I resize to 604 pixels, otherwise FB will do it for you. It does seem to do some extra sharpening though, and some more compression.

Compare this:




to this: Facebook

Dan