My wife is at a German Christmas Market in Birmingham tomorrow - it is a ritual that she has to attend every year! Shame she doesn't own a Pentax and doesn't take photos.

Regards
David

Hi Gedski, I commented on this picture in the Gallery. In terms of the exposure it is spot-on, but it's not the most interesting subject. I'm sure with practice your pictures will come on in leaps and bounds. I find the technical aspects of getting the exposure & focus right are the easy bits - I would suggest once you have learned the basics of using the camera you focus more on the compositional side of the pictures as getting this right makes the difference between ordinary and exceptional. Not that I've taken many exceptional shots but I think I can recognise it in other people's pictures!

Regards
David

DIY - I have ripped the Shower room apart (easy, but dirty), now I have to put it back together (more difficult). Got some 18mm marine ply on the walls today, ready for PVA and tiles, so progress I suppose. Problem is, is stops me taking pictures!

Posted 5 pictures 4 weeks ago, two approved after 2.5 weeks, the other 3 are still pending.

Like everyone else I have no idea how the approvals process works (or doesn't work as it appears).

Regards
David

I look at this from possibly a different point of view than some of the others who have commented Shaun. I really enjoy your photos and love the range of different styles in your work. However, as you are a professional and aiming to make money from your pictures, I can understand why some have commented that the breadth of images on the site is too large.

I have recently set up a website for my pictures and as I have no intention of attempting to make money from it (nor am I good enough anyway) I simply upload what I like and hope a few people will go and have a look. I think for you it is much more important than that. Do you have any stats for how much paying business has been attracted by your website and if so which particular areas of the site are pulling in business?

Regards
David

My SMC Takumar 135mm F3.5, a humble little lens, but boy is it good! I love the challenge of manual operation with the lens and have had some spectacular results - I don't know if I'm lucky to own a particularly good copy but it's fab. Close second would be my 55-300mm and my Pentax-M 28mm F3.5, another manual focus gem of a lens.

Regards
David

Welcome Clare, hope you enjoy the site.

Best wishes, David

Hi Brian, don't be afraid of trying a few in fully manual mode! I know it's a bit old-fashioned but it's my favourite for wildlife shots as it gives you all the control. Personally, I will often increase the ISO in order to keep the aperture around f8 or so and still have a reasonably high shutter speed. The K-x is brilliant at ISO's up to 1600 and perfectly usable even higher. Of course it depends on the light, but at this time of year it's at a premium!

Regards
David

A lot of people post issues with similar problems; I have had to adjust my K-x to -70 (yes, minus 70) in the debug menu and it now produces excellent sharp shots. I was on the point of sending back my 55-300 lens as I thought it was rubbish. It wasn't - the camera was not focussing it accurately.

I don't know if there's any larger adjustment available on the K-r via a secret debug menu - maybe some of the other members could assist you with this.

Hope you get it sorted, if not send the camera back and ask for a new one.

Regards
David

I have a few Takumars and would strongly recommend the SMC versions over the non SMC ones - they appear to me to produce superior images - sharper, more colourful, more contrasty. I love these lenses, so beautiful to use and so tactile. Watch out for oil on the Aperture blades though, it seems to afflict the Taks more than most lenses.

Regards
David