I have read a few of freemans books (amongst many others) all were informative and helpful with technique and the "mechanics" of photography. I've even attended a few courses on photgraphy over the years.
OK, so I learned the basics of photography, I learned all about light and exposure, but it didnt make me a better photographer , what started ME on the road to half decent picture taking was a tutor at one of my night classes, she insisted we look at other photographers work and study it, she even made us write a 1500 word essay on our chosen photographer (I chose Weston) after that my photography started to improve, after a while though I felt I was going nowhere......untill I joined a camera club since then my photography has come on leaps and bounds, listening to your peers and inpartial judges comment on yours and others work teaches you what to look for in an image, how best to expose for it, how to compose it, what elements to include or exclude, vantage points, how to break the rules and get away with it, etc etc etc.

My advice, throw away the "teach you how" books and join a camera club

No, it was a display outside a store in North Conway, New Hampshire, as you may well know the Americans are well into Halloween, there were displays of pumpkins, scarecrows and spooky paraphinalia all over the place.


I did consider a tighter crop but wanted to show the display in its suroundings. Plus I have enough close ups of pumpkins to last me a lifetime

First image out of Pentax Photo Lab (I shot RAW all holiday ) I am sooooo going to have to invest in Lightroom.




Let me know what you think, negative comments welcome too

Not a prize winner Alex but one that I would have been happy to have taken myself. a very pleasant shot.

Keep em' coming.

Hi ALex and let me also welcome you to the forum.

Now lets get down to your images, your images clearly show your a beginer as a newbie photographer your going to snap away at everything that presents itself, in time you'll learn when your wasting your time and when your onto a winner, but dont worry, I've been snapping for over 30 years and still take an awful lot of rubbish

Your first image is a bit confusing, it has no real focal point, TBH its just a snap of feeding birds, plus the exposure is all wrong on the white birds plumage (very difficult to do anyway) so avoid white birds untill you've a bit more experience. The real image here is in that duck with the circular ripples around it, just isolate that and see what a powerful image it makes.

The second one is also just a "snap", theres nothing of real interest in the picture, the girl looks like she's bored to tears waiting for you to take the picture and you really could have moved that rucksack, it stands out like a sore thumb you could also have waited for that bike? to pass and avoided that annoying headlight.

The fourth image shows promise but you need to get closer to those berries and isolate just that buch in the centre.

Finally, its not all doom and gloom, the third image is a cracker, shots of dogs with their heads through a gate always have the Awww factor.
It might be my monitor but I think it might be a tad overexposed. from a personal point of view I would crop the image to exclude the areas above and below the top and bottom rails, the dogs legs at the bottom are a bit distracting and dont really do anything for the shot, but its still a cracker, well done 9/10.

It doesn't matter where in the world you live, your welcome here, so welcome to the forum.

Its nice to know we are considered "concerned, informed and participators" not sure I'd agree with you about BBC radio though, although I do confess I like to hear "Steve Wright in the afternoon"

Tyr:
I bought the Magic Lantern K10D guide, according to that newer stock should have the newer version of firmware instaled.

amosstarz;
Dont worry about it, just upgrade the firmware to the latest version, as John says, different stockist will have varying turnarounds, it doesn't mean your K10D is any less better than one that comes out of the factory tomorow.

Its always worth using the buy it now option with immiediate payment required. they either pay up straight away or risk someone else buying the item.

I can see your not really an experienced bird photographer Dave, everyone knows you have to get up early and put superglue on the branches

After several attempts to shoot a Robin someone suggested I use the old spade handle technique, it worked fine but the poor little thing had a terrible headache

Sorry, they dont get any better.

Well here I am folks, back from wonderful New England and I suppose its my turn to organise the next meet, I suppose October is probably out at such short notice (like next saturday for instance) so lets have some feedback on what suits everyone for November

I suggest Fairburn Ings but you'll all need long lenses, the trees will be losing or lost their leaves and our little feathered friends will be fattening up for winter.