It's not specific to the link I posted above, it just failed downloading some other unrelated advert for domestic appliances.

I take your point about IE and I'm no fan of the "evil empire", the trouble is that I've spent many years using IE and I'm used to where to find everything, Firefox and Chrome just have all this stuff in different places and it's too much of a pain to learn it all again.

I only get noticeable trouble on this site. I won't say that I never have a problem anywhere else, but if I'm going to have trouble, it will be here.

Mine keeps locking IE dead, the only way out is by using Task Manager and hitting "End Process" many many times. It's an XP machine with IE8. Seems lock when trying to download from a location that starts with this:

ds.serving-sys.com/BurstingRes/Site-1975/Type-11

It's a javascript thing (ends in .js) but I didn't copy the whole thing as it's in the status bar and won't copy/paste. Don't think it's my machine as it only happens here. Annoying though.

Lovely clear shots. The, er, Great Tit is my favourite I think but not by much.

Yes! I left what turned out to be only a few minutes before the end, had to get back home and then back out to the pub. I wasn't going to go but then realised what a clear night it was.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

There's a few more organised displays on next weekend, if it's clear I might go out again.

Cheers, I was surprised there weren't already some posts.

I love doing these trace images because they're quite easy. The venue meant it wasn't really possible to get a foreground, more of a pity as I was stood on a canal bank so might have had some reflections with a bit more planning, and I stupidly thought I'd need the long lens when in fact I'd have been better off using the kit lens. I spent all my time on the shortest focal length and missed a lot of bursts, with the 18-55 I'd have got them. Like this one:

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7814a.jpg[/IMG]

Biggest danger is ending up with dozens of virtually identical shots, though - like any technique it can end up being over done. Still, pretty lines in the sky.

2.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7874a.jpg[/IMG]

3.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7893a.jpg[/IMG]

4.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7890a.jpg[/IMG]

5.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7879a.jpg[/IMG]

6.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7876a.jpg[/IMG]

7.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7862a.jpg[/IMG]

8.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7819a.jpg[/IMG]

9.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7817a.jpg[/IMG]

10.

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/hpfirenza/Fireworks2012/Imgp7899a.jpg[/IMG]

Any comments appreciated.

Some good stuff there, I was thinking of attending but a bit busy over the weekend. I'll have to look out for this next year.

Thanks, I might well take you up on that later in the year. I've been to Chester quite a lot over the years, but only a couple of times just to wander around taking photos - once back in the eighties for a market research thing about processing shops, and last Christmas. Until that time I'd never seen the lovely Georgian (I think) houses round the back of the Cathedral, for example.

I bought an 86mm CPL filter for my Sigma 50-500, just one from eBay, not the cheapest but relatively cheap, and that was quite poor in how it screwed on to the lens. When I tried it at the weekend I also found that it affected focus quite badly, whether that was because it's rubbish, or because it wasn't on properly, or some other reason, I don't know.

I also had a panic moment when I couldn't remove it, leading to me remembering what a pain it was to fit. A bit of "trying again" sorted it out, luckily as I wanted to use the lens there and then. But these tips sound quite handy as it also had a freely rotating front and was therefore hard to grip.

Any thoughts on why it affected focus so much?

I do like the pasty shop one, the coloured windows at the top contrast nicely with the rest of it. And also it made me a little hungry.

Thanks for the exposure notes, too. I will have a go next time I'm in Chester, no use around here as most of our shops are boared up.

I will try to emulate (OK, copy) the clock shot, see what I can achieve with the Kx.

Colour is lovely in the first one, I tried something similar locally but I couldn't get the angle quite right and didn't think of just lying on the floor (and would probably have been too self-conscious). I think the second would be better without the diver personally, but it does add a sense of scale to the image.