Many thanks Tel for organising today. It was excellent. Nice to meet some of the people I know so well from this site but who were until today just names.
david

Tel,
I'm coming down with Beginner - Ken Phillips. Look out for you when we get there.
david

One of the obvious places to visit in North Wales is Portmeirion, near Portmadoc. It was built in the first half of the 20th century in the style of an Italian village and the coloured houses and buildings are stupendous, especially when the sun shines. The 1960s TV series The Prisoner was filmed there.
I would also recommend some of the old slate quarries/mines and also the narrow guage steam railways that have been restored around Portmadoc and in the Vale of Ffestiniog.
Then of course there are the mountains and valleys and the castles. I just love RR's fish eye treatment of Harlech Castle

You may have found the judging really hard Hefty but you did a super job.
david

I love the treatment in this picture. It's great in black and white and the angle of view is terrific.
david

The MX was directly comparable to the Nikon FM2 and the Olympus OM1. I can't speak for the Olympus as I never used one but friends who had the camera loved it. I did sometimes use an FM2 and found it cruder, heavier and less user friendly than the MX which was a lovely camera. I wish I'd kept mine: It would now be occupying a place of honour mounted on a plinth in my computer room.
david

Good choice Hefty, it will be a real challenge for someone wanting to win with a mono pic.
david

I'm saddened you are retiring from the weekly competitions Martin because you are one of the stars of the show. I'm also disappointed you think there are too many archival entries. If the entry is a picture that hasn't been submitted previously I don't undertand why that should be a problem. Different photographers have different ways of working and while some rise to the challenge of a set subject with a short deadline, others shy away from this. Personally I'm very much an instinctive photographer reacting to situations as they arise and find working to a 'commission' like being back at work. I'd rather keep my photography as a relaxing hobby. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the work of the photographers who shine in the fortnightly competitions and those who take something fresh for each of the weeklies. But most of the time I'd rather match the subject with some thing I've taken recently, rather than specifically in the past couple of weeks.
best wishes, David

Does anyone know how the authorities react to photographers in France? I'm going to Paris next month and plan to take 100s of pictures.
david

Welcome back Martin, it's good to hear from you again. I hope you and your wife find comfort with the passage of time.
best wishes, David