Yep I had it too. I just chose the mark everything as read option then the recent activity to get up to date. Once you've done that it works fine next time you check in.

Richard for some reason the forum came up with every post, dating wat back as unread. Whilst it was fascinating to read some of them it was frustrating too, to spot the new ones. I just marked everything as read and have started again. It seems to be fine again now.

I don't see it as second class. It just doesn't interest me, that's all. I don't feel the need to look at other peoples photos, let alone comment on them. I rarely comment on photos placed within the forum, let alone any in the gallery. I don't want to just place a comment that says that it is a nice photo or whatever, and since I don't "know" the bulk of the gallery posters I won't place any more constructive comments in case they are misconstrued.
I am quite happy for people to post their photos where they like, and if PU have the bandwidth for the gallery without us needing to pay any more for it, then fine. But it is of no interest to me, to put photos there or to look at.
I actually took part in this weeks competition, but even that normally leaves me cold.
My point was that the gallery should be open to anyone, once you start having a committee approving the photos it loses it's point and becomes like the Pentax gallery. No one forces you to look at it. I still think it is a shame that more gallery posters don't join in the forum.

I find I don't have time to wade through all the photos on the gallery. I have given up on it I'm afraid. I have no trouble seeing photos posted within the forum because I keep up with the forum - photos tend to be posted in the your photos section, not throughout the forum, unless they are referring to a specific problem.

I was afraid the gallery would become what it has. I have seen it on other sites. It is a shame that so many people who post on the gallery, and in the competition, never bother to join in the forum discussions, but I have seen that too on other sites. One way to overcome that would be to make it impossible to access the gallery until new members have at least introduced themselves in the forum, but that then reduces the attractiveness of the forum and gallery as a whole.

However there is no way to make it for only the best photos without it becomes like the proper Pentax gallery. Who know who judges the photos allowed there? Who would judge the photos to be allowed on the PU gallery? Doubtless many people posting on the gallery feel they are posting their best photos. Some better criticism may help, but in my experience people don't always appreciate honesty.

I shall continue to post on the forum, and ignore the gallery. I may never get a photo published in PU this way, but it suits me.

Carnival time here too, but I missed the parade . Now just a load of drunken revellers to photograph.

I love number 4!

I am hopeless at judging distances so I can't really help you there. The great thing about the K20D is that it does allow you to crop quite a bit without loss of picture quality.
I cropped a few of my Tanzania photos - particularly the leopard in a tree ones, because we were just so far away, without cropping the photos were pretty useless. Even a 50mm lens would have needed a crop. I only had 6MP to play with so could crop too much before losing quality.
Many professional wildlife photographers crop their photos to fill the picture with the subject.
Maybe you could go on one of Daniel Bridges workshops sometime - he can give you lots of hints and tips then. I'm sure you would learn a lot from him. He is in Essex so not so far from Ruislip/Hillingdon, certainly doable as a day trip.

Amin, stick with what you have for now, and learn how to use it. You can keep throwing money at this hobby but if the basics aren't there then no matter how long/fast/expensive the lens is you won't get the picture you are hoping for.
300mm is fine for most wildlife, and even for most birds. Get anything bigger and you are adding weight which makes it even harder to keep the setup still, unless you use a tripod. You can spend a fortune on gear for wildlife photography, long lenses, spotting scopes, gimbal heads etc, but unless you have the basics down pat it won't make an iota of difference.

Probably a better photographer than he is a bass player

I last saw Metallica 17 years ago.
Too old for such things nowadays I'm afraid. I like to sit down for my concerts now, and my hearing can't take it any more.

Whatever you buy be prepared to give it up at security.
It drives me mad going to concerts and being searched for a camera, whilst they let in all those mobiles with their 8 MP cameras attached and allow them to be flashing away taking feeble photos all through a concert, whereas I can't take in my SLR, which would need to flash, to take a couple of piccies.
I am so used to being searched that I don't bother with a camera of any sort - I have seen them throw expensive DSLRs in a bin from where you are supposed to retrieve your own camera at the end of the concert. Yeah sure someone who had the compact confiscated isn't going to decide to upgrade at my expense.
Last concert I went to I didn't take a camera, and of course not only wasn't I searched but cameras were tolerated . Maybe that's because Bill Wyman is a photographer too, I don't know. Could have got his photo in the hotel after the concert, but he looked knackered (he is 73 after all)so I left him alone. We did get to chat with Georgie Fame though.

If you ever get the chance to see Bill Wyman's photos in exhibition do go - he has some truly stunning photos. We went to see them in Apeldoorn, together with an exhibition by a Dutch Pop photographer. I know Bill Wyman has an all access pass but his photos were just so much better than the professionals - he has the eye.