I'm in Durham Photographic Society where there are more than 100 members and the vast majority have Canons. There are some Nikon owners too but quite a few Pentaxes as well. And do you know what? No one ever bothers about which pictures were taken on what camera.
Like Impotentspider I've had a couple of wins and other placings in club competitions this year and got two NCPF certificates of merit in the annual International Salon of Photography run by the Northern Counties Photographic Federation. Both pictures were shot with a Pentax K10, but in the wider photographic world who cares what camera was used?

There are times when a sloping horizon, or the illusion of a sloping horizon are OK. In a wide angle close up graphic image for instance its sometimes acceptable to tilt the camera for dramatic effect.
The illusion of a sloping horizon can be given in a picture like yours where the hillside slopes; or when looking across a lake at the opposite shore which runs diagonally to the plane of view.
I agree with RR that your picture seems level but the main cloud is a bit burned out.
david

Good one Mike but I still prefer the one you put in the weekly competition, Textures I recall. I like the differential focus but would prefer to see a greater area of sharp focus.
I've prowled around graveyards myself and have some examples which might end up in The Forum one day.

Thinking about it again perhaps the problem we are all having with this picture is balance. It's asking a lot of that tiny figure on the far platform to counterbalance that massive great engine and to comand full attention as the main focal point.
david

Okay that's good Barrie but I don't know how you did it. I don't always subscribe to the view many camera judges have that everyone reads a picture left to right. I know I don't, sometimes it works and other times it just doesn't look right. I'm not convinced this picture is better reversed. Perhaps that's because I still see it the way it was when I took the photo.

Thanks for your comments, very helpful. Dr Mhuni: If I were to flip the picture the train number would be reversed. I thought the distant figure being less sharp than the engine helps, he's a little bit ghostly.I had to move the figure a little to the left to improve composition. And yes I've had problems in the past, mainly due to my lack of technical knowledge which is why until now I've never entered a fortnightly competition. But our fellow member DOIK, who is a nehgbour, has helped me gain access via Photobucket.
Tim: You've got good eyesight to spot those electronic signs, but point taken.
Alan: In the disco picture the woman is more scarey than the friendly old Goths.

Good one Hefty. Now I'm Photobucket literate I might be tempted to enter my first ever fortnightly competition. Must get into gear now.
david

I'm so unsure about technology that I can never explain what's wrong when things don't work. But thanks to my neighbour and fellow member of Durham PS and PU, John Attle, (He's DOIK on here) I got up and running today.
david

[IMG]http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy273/Davidtrout2/Lonelywait.jpg[/IMG]It started out as just a picture of a steam train but the lonely figure waiting on the far platform at Carlisle station caught my eye to make a different kind of image. Any C+C welcome.

[IMG]http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy273/Davidtrout2/Scareylady.jpg[/IMG]
Taken at a family wedding disco on a Pentax IstDS at 3200 iso, handeld, no flash. Yipee, I've finally managed to upload a picture into the Forum, my first ever.
david