Two years down the line as a dslr photographer (well at least someone with a dslr) and a Pentaxian I have decided that I need to commit to a seven lens lineup. This is to cover jack of all trades master of none photography. This collection will fit in one large bag, should ensure that all lenses are used and seven is a nice number. The lineup I aspire to is:

DA12-24 f4
K35 f3.5
FA43 f1.9 Ltd
FA77 f1.8 Ltd
DFA 100 f2.8 Macro
DA*50-135 f2.8
DA*300 f4

What do you think?

What would your seven lens kit be?

When I decided on Pentax I didn't really consider lenses much beyond the ability to use cheapo old lenses alongside the 16-45 and 55-300. However when I look at that list I think I made a damned good decision and I'm 5/7ths of the way there.

A couple more tips:

Don't try to get the camera to see what you see, try to see what the camera sees. Your visualisation is selective, you can block out things that are not important to you and increase the relative impact of things that are important. A camera can't do that, it assigns equal importance to everything it sees.

Use the difficulty of using a tripod as an adavantage. Taking (plenty of) time to previsualise a scene will help to get the tripod set up right.

The 55-300 is a very good general purpose lens and capable of results way beyond what its price suggests when used in its comfort zone. One huge positive I find with the lens is that the shake reduction seems to work remarkably well with it, I have some surprisingly sharp handheld shots at some pretty low shutter speeds. However, it does have limitations of course - I find it doesn't always handle higher contrast well (wedding dresses could be tricky) and autofocus is pedestrian and hunts too much (could be tricky on safari).

So for the odd wedding I think I might consider hiring (or buying and reselling) a 50-135 and for a one off Africa trip a DA*300 or Sigma 100-300f4 (if you could find one).

That's a good thing to remember. I'm as guilty as anyone of complacency and I have taken ridiculously few landscape shots. Having said that although there are many fine places to photograph distances are large. A good thing is to catalogue views, try to envisage how they would look under different conditions (blue skies, stormy skies, mist, rain, sunrise, etc and visit them when the conditions are right, which can involve a very early start. I have just loaded my car up with my camping sauvage setup and I intend to have a very productive couple of landscape months. Whereabouts are you? I will probably pass your way at some point.

My recipe for a nice shot of the river at the moment: Gloomy day, bit of foreground rock, bit of river, backdrop of trees, no sky, tripod, slow shutter speed. Guaranteed success or your money back.

Winter blues? The best time of the year for landscapes has only just begun.

Try and get down to the Creuse - it looks fabulous at the moment but the displays of colour will probably be gone on a few days, if it carries on this windy it may not survive the weekend.

How about a trip to the cemeteries? Good photo opps there for a few more days.

Macro is more difficult now so explore a few different things to find out what you like.

There are certainly no shortage of photo opportunities where you are.

I can now confirm that Bacon Sandwich Time is GMT +2hours and 12 minutes, or thereabouts.

Thank you to those who have supported the nice little competition that is the fortnightly, I enjoyed the wide range of entries. Live long and prosper. Here are my thoughts:

RPLSF: White Tailed Deer Antler

The thing that immediately impresses me about this shot is that from an antler you know that the deer has a white tail. It’s a good find. It’s also a simple, effective composition and the square crop is a good choice. The vignette works and I like th framing but I do find the shot a little over processed, I think the contrast has been pushed just too far.

Geordie01: Anchor

Nice abstract and a very good colour combination of rustiness, green and cream (that’s how I see it, my son informs me it’s blue). This has a bit of an optical illusion feel about it. The 5.1m sign tells me I am looking at it from a normal angle but it kind of looks upside down to me. The focus seems to be on the green background whereas I’d like to see the rusty anchor sharp. But a different and enjoyable photograph.

Northgrain: The Walled Track

You get views like this within five minutes, how lucky are you. My brother lives in Derby and we will visit at some point, I’d like to drop by if that’s OK and take a five minute walk. I like the way the stone walls frame the view down to the setting Sun and distant hills. Personally I’m not a big HDR fan, I’d use a grad any day, That is personal taste and shouldn’t detract from this lovely photograph but I would take the sky down a notch here with a pp nd grad to bring out more colour.

JudithAnn: Awesome Autumn

It is a beautiful display, it is heartwarming and nice too that someone’s efforts have been immortalised in this photo. The colours on those maple leaves are stunning and complement the pumpkin perfectly. It’s nice and sharp annd well lit. I’m not that keen on the frame and the white burn on the bottom edge. The display is everything here and I think just a simple black frame would set it off perfectly.

DannyH: Autumn Scene

The colours are lovely and the aspect ratio suits the scene. The line of pines at the rear is a nice counterfoil to the turning leaves. However, I do think the scene would benefit from a blue sky which would combine well with the autumn colours and lift it a level as I find the bright but colourless sky with the dark gradient and the burnt foreground edge a bit distracting.

Alexfilipov: Local Shop

It’s a nice looking local shop. The scene is nicely framed with plenty of interest. The graffiti in the background and on the fence makes the viewer wonder about the neighbourhood a little. (I’ve just realised what I’ve said here, it’s only five minutes from where you live, so I like the slightly bohemian feel). I like the desaturated look of this too but the image does look a little over sharpened and there are some jaggedy artefacts at this size which detract from the quality - could be down to resizing.

Darlene: Halloween Night.

That’s a result, all you had to do was open your door and not even walk anywhere. This portrait brings a big smile to your face. The cute kid look juxtaposes well with the costume. It’s a feel good photo, no worries about eggs on your door or glued up keyholes here. There’s some redeye there, but that rather befits a vampire. The little tombstone is a nice touch, the border I’m less keen on.

Darkskies: La Grande Blourde

You’ve done some nice mini-cascade shots but I’m afraid this is far from my favourite. Good shutter speed and nice colours on the autumn leaves, but I’m not keen on the composition. The stick doesn’t do anything for me, it rather competes with the rusty metal bit, and mostly I don’t get the jaunty angle, it just gets my head turning a bit. Sorry.

The difficult bit:

1st Darlene: Just too cutesy, I have no choice.
2nd JudithAnn: Seasonal and ubercheerful.
3rd Northgrain: Please post lots more pics of Derbyshire.

I wrote to inform them that I have been presented with the same photos in voting on mutliple occasions. They wrote back thanking me for the feedback and confirming they had now fixed this bug. I voted again and found quite a few photos I had voted on a couple of days ago.

Can I swap the missus for a DA*300 please?

According to my artist dashboard I now have only one approval on my account, I hope they haven't lost the rest. Some the the photos just declined are a bit surprising, easily would have been approved previously.

I have just voted some more - all the photos that came up were ones I have already voted on. There are a lot of photos I have now voted on multiple times. Five votes on the same photo is probably the record so far.

I don't think it could have been relaunched any more incompetently. Who knows if votes are actually registering, no other part of the site works. I think they should shut it down again and redo it properly.