well......as little as I know about portraiture, especially that of pretty girls!

image 1) you should have warmed the "studio" up first, pert nipples are not really the done thing unless your shooting "that" sort of image

image 2) the shadow seems to emphasise the length of her nose (a very pretty nose I hasten to add....just in case she's reading this)

image 3) still got the emphasis on the nose (slightly) but NICE! I would chat her up any day, VERY sultry.....nice capture.

image 4) I cant comment on this without offending female members of this forum, suffice to say this image makes me want to engage in mouth to mouth and sink my teeth into that bottom lip. if this is the emotion you wanted to arouse then (IMHO) you managed it!

image 5) nice pose....but she looks lost

image 6) pretty much the same as number 4, only this is the sort of girl you'd want to take home to meet the parents, rather than one you'd just want to ...snog?......if you can see the reason behind that?

I think I'll quit while I'm ahead and before he wife comes to see what I'm typing

No6 is (IMHO) the best of the bunch.

EDIT: Looking again at these in the light of day and without my bloodstream full of alcohol I think I prefer the third shot, the sixth is still a stunner though.

This might sound like a daft reply, but have you checked that the AF selector switch has not been knocked, or even the focus select point?

Wait for a more colourful sky and crouch down for a lower viewpoint (to get more sky in) also keep the dominant tree to one side, in this case it would have been to the right with the tree leaning across the frame towards the middle, also avoid things like that other trunk on the far right as this vies for attention with the other trees.

I hope that made sense

one word.....WOW

WOW! you caught one that had been shot down, fantastic

I really must go to an airshow, I'm getting a little jealous of all these fine shots that folk keep posting

Well for starters you cant really compare a zoom lens like the 150-500 with a Pentax fixed focal length like the 300mm, in fact you cant really compare even Pentax zooms to Pentax primes for quality.

As for focal length and what each lens is capable of individually, you have to weigh up the trade off between loss of quality in a zoom with the advantages it gives over the prime lens in terms of versatility, shooting at 300mm with a prime and cropping may well give better results that that of an uncropped imaged from 500mm zoomed.

Personally I find zooms offer good enough quality for my own needs, probably do for most amatuers and would suggest you would find the 150-500 a better option in terms of versatility.

I'm with Tel. crop on the right as he suggests.

Despite the fact I dont like digital manipulation...these are quite good

not the sort of thing you'd want to use a reversing ring on then

I'm skint and I need a 600mm if anyone has one spare

Seriously though, that is a good idea Don, but what about asking the receiver to also donate a small amount to a charity of their choice. I have just done exactly that with an old laptop I had, the guy that got it is going to make small weekly donations to British Heart Foundation.