With thanks to digitalCG we have our first entry so I'm out of here.

Please PM me if there is anything that needs a response from me.

Glyn

Many thanks. I wondered if anyone would notice .

Glyn

Here is the place for discussion about fortnightly competition #75 - Steps.

As is traditional I will stop looking in here once the first entry has been submitted.

I would like to get this competition back to closing on a Wednesday and as we are now banging up against a weekend I propose to do this by extending this competition an extra few days, giving two weekends with time for consideration and preparation.

Therefore if everyone is happy with this approach the competition will close at 6pm BST on Wednesday 7th Sept.

Good luck,

Glyn

I don't think I'm going to say anything about what I will be looking for with this subject other than all interpretations will be considered .

The usual rules apply. The image has to be taken with a Pentax camera or Samsung DSLR equivalent and be shot within the duration of this competition. Please include camera details and shooting time and date with your image.

I would like to get this competition back to closing on a Wednesday and as we are now banging up against a weekend I propose to do this by extending this competition an extra few days, giving two weekends with time for consideration and preparation.

Therefore if everyone is happy with this approach the competition will close at 6pm BST on Wednesday 7th Sept.

Good luck and I look forward with some anticipation to seeing your entries.

Glyn

Oh gosh! I was not really expecting that. I had my money on mercox's beautiful ceiling.

Many thanks to Pete for coming up with an interesting subject open to a broad range of interpretations. While it was a bit disappointing to see so few entries I think it is just the time of year where people have other commitments.

Thanks also for your great set of thoughtful comments and, of course, your judging which I guess was probably quite difficult. So thank you for awarding my loft the winning slot .

Congratulations to Mark and Tim with whom I share the podium and everyone else for a great set of interpretations.

I will shortly put up a subject for the next round.

Glyn

Loft Space

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Competition%20Entries/IMGP1152-c2s-small.jpg[/IMG]

We really must sort out our loft!

Pentax K-5 with Sigma 10-20 @ 10mm
1.3sec, F11 & ISO800

Shot on 16/08/11

Glyn

I prefer to use a macro lens when shooting flowers. They provide more opertunity for getting close to the subject and I think at the distances involved in flower shots tend to be sharper.

I have both the DA35 Macro and the DFA100 macro and like Gareth I prefer to use the 100mm. Occasionally it might be a bit too long but I find that even in my small garden that it sometimes helps with the lighting like keeping my shadow out the shot. I found to get nice large shots of individual blooms that the 35mm could be too short. Not having a 50mm macro I can't comment on whether this is a good compromise.

I think if I was starting out again I would go for the new WR version of the DFA100 as this could open up even more opportunities.

Below is a wallflower shot from this April using the DFA100 with a K-7 at F7, 1/25 sec & ISO200 tripod mounted.

Glyn

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/IMGP0884-c1s-small.jpg[/IMG]

Many thanks for setting such a good, broad and inclusive subject. Thanks also for you great detailed comments and judging.

Congratulations to digitalCG for a beautiful winning shot and everyone else for another excellent set of images.

Glyn

But what I was trying to say is that I thinks it is much safer, and representative, not to specifically ask manufactures for test examples. Perhaps I was also hinting that with all reviews we should think about its objective and possibly who has has sponsored it.

I maintain that these issues are well addressed by Photozone and so perhaps you should not link their reviews with a statement on manufacture supplied samples.

Glyn

I think you are being a little unfair on Photozone.

My understanding is that Photozone don't ask manufactures for test samples but get test examples on loan from users. Often they name and thank the source of the lens.

While there is a risk that the test sample is a rouge I think this should help provide results which are representative of what you might expect to find on general sale.

On the 18-135mm Photozone were so unhappy with their results they asked Pentax to check the calibration of the sample:

"Just to mention again - we couldn't believe the rather poor performance so we asked the local Pentax service in Hamburg/Germany for an assessment of the situation. Result: the lens is within factory specifications."

Glyn