That just goes to show there is no justice in the world, novice picks up a camera, doesn't know squat and takes a superb shot , even manages to get a high enough shutter speed to freeze the beast when he could have opened up the aperture and gone even higher.

Right, thats it, my camera is getting switched to "auto" and I'm having my memory wiped, maybe my photography will improve

Well actually "beer" shouldn't really be served cold (chilled) "Lager" on the other hand should.

It seems the places where you dined only got it half right,
I'll get the Queen to drop a letter of apology in the post

Happy 4th July


To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

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1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
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2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').
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3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let M*crosoft know on your behalf. The M*crosoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.
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4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
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5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not ready to shoot grouse.
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6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
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7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
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8. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
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9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call french fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
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10. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
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11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
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12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body Armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try Rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.
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13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
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14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
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15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
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16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season

Welcome to the forum Ewan, we'll keep you posted of meets through here, but we usually finalise times and dates via PMs so make sure you check those as well.

OK guys, evening or weekend?

Evening meet will restrict us to "Urban Photography"
Weekends (daytime) we could visit parks/gardens etc, The Walled Garden at Temple Newsom might be a good bet this time of year, theres always Lotherton Hall if you fancy shoting birds through cages

Well the March/April meet never got off the ground guys, what about something for July/August? the evenings are getting longer so we could also consider an evening meet, you may have read in another of my posts we have two new guys at my camera club, they would definately be interested in joining in.

Regardless of rumours and speculation one thing is for certain, Pentax are on the way up the ladder so anything is possible, especially with the merge with Hoya, I am seeing increasing numbers of photographers carrying Pentax DSLRs, for the last five years I was the only Pentax user at my Camera Club, but we have recently had a new member with a K10D and also one with the Samsung sibling, also anyone who has looked at my profile will discover my "other" hobby (yes I know it sad) but one of my fellow Wargamers has also bought a Pentax K110d (I think), he may actually be lurking on here somewhere.

I much prefer this second shot Lilly, the building just has that bit more punch to it and the lead in from the path makes for a much better composition. The skys not as dramatic but the extra interest in the sea makes up for it.

All I can say is watch out Joe Cornish

Hideous Disastrous Results
But obviously not when Lilly takes it on

Nice capture Lilly I think the building needs to be a tad darker. then it will throw the hounds of the scent that it is HDR (no George I'm not calling you a hound )

I still like it as it is though, I'd cetainly hang it on my wall.

PS; I dont mind the converging verticals.

Thanks for the input chaps.

The lens still seems to perform well in all other respects so I may just learn to live with it.

Mongoose:
Yes I tried it without a filter.

Clarky:
Yes it is the same, do me a favour and try yours for me. just point it at a plain wall or piece of card the same as you would if checking the sensor for dust (which is how I found the problem with mine) Reading the other replys it might just be something peculier to Tamron macros.