If all other inspiration fails you could always have a go at something for the current fortnightly competition where I have set the subject "Time piece". It does not have to be a clock. Just imagine creating a classy shot with, say, the last few moments on an egg timer .

Glyn

Here is the place for discussion about fortnightly competition #55 - Time Piece.

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

Just remember that this competition will close at 6pmGMT on Wednesday 24th November.

Good luck,

Glyn

Initialy I was going to title this competition "Clocks" but I'm keen to make the subject a little wider in the hope that it will encourage a few more entries.

So the subject is "Time Piece". I think this could include clocks, not just household but also clocks on buildings and structures, watches, sundials and even timers. I look forward to your interpretations.

Just the usual reminder that entries for this competition must be taken during the period of this competition (11th - 24th November) with a Pentax camera or Samsung DSLR equivalent. The competition will close at 6pm GMT on Wednesday 24th November 2010.

Good luck everyone.

Glyn

Rob - Many thanks for for awarding my cooker burner the wining place.

I thought it was a great subject and was a little disappointed by the low number of entries. However the submitted entries were all very good and must have given Rob a challenge. I particularly liked JudithAnn's portrait shot. Not only do I think it was brilliantly well done but I also felt it was a fantastic take on the subject. I also thought aliengrove's cloud shot was terrific I can only dream of achieving results like these.

Congratulations to everyone and thanks to Rob for the well thought out comments. I thought it was an excellent collection of images and anyone of them could have won.

I will post a new subject up shortly.

Glyn

Blue Heat

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/IMGP8315-c2-small.jpg[/IMG]

I'm sure I'm going to regret posting something up this early but someone has to set an initial target

A cooker burner going full blast.

Pentax K-7 with DA55-300 @ 230mm (to keep me & the camera away from the heat)
20sec, F22, ISO 200 & full D-range correction.

Taken at 17:19 on Friday 29th October.

Glyn

Edit: correct usual spelling mistakes.

The Panasonic LX3 is my compact of choice as well

When I bought it I did consider a GF1 but one lens collection is more than enough to manage

Glyn

mecrox - many thanks for setting a challenging subject, your excellent comments and considered judging. Even with such a small entry I'm sure this was not an easy task but I think the winning shots were both stunning.

Congratulations to Rob and JudithAnn for the winning pictures and everyone else, albeit only a few of us this time, for a cracking set of images.

Glyn

Surrey Border Sunset

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/IMGP8166-c1-small.jpg[/IMG]

The sun is setting over the Surrey Hampshire boarder. Aldershot, not normally described as photogenic, is hidden away in the dip between the camera and the horizon.

K-7 with DA*16-50 @ 24mm
1/320sec, F18 and ISO 200.
The camera was on a monopod. (It was too steep a climb for my heavy tripod.)

Taken on 25th October at 17:22. The sun was below the horizon by 17:50.

Glyn

Edit to correct a typo

I suspect this was a typo and stub really meant the 234.

I also have a Manfrotto 680B which I got in a sale a couple of years ago. It does not get used a lot. However it is just about small enough to get in my back-pack but with 4 sections gets up to my chin even without a head.

I think head choice can depend on both what your main usage will be and how much you are prepared to spend. If its going to get used mainly for static subjects then the 234 is a good, cost effective solution. I have a friend who is a semi-retired newspaper sport photographer and this is exactly what he uses for football and cricket matches.

If you are planning to use it mainly for moving subjects, like air-shows, then I guess that a ball head would be desirable.

I have both a 234 and a 484 ball head but I mostly use the 234, mainly because its a 100g lighter .

Glyn

My very first mainframe login name which was defined by our admin. I think it was a Dec Vax on which I was doing Z80 assembler & linkage having been migrated off of a CP-M desk-top (and even more desk-under) machine.

Glyn