I don't like the dark background. With some flowers a black, and I mean really black, background is great, but somehow this background doesn't work here.
I also don't much care for the composition tbh. It is a bit square on and boring. I would either have gone for a more macro photo and concentrated just on the centre of the flower, so you have more emphasis on the brighter pink bleeding into the pale pink, and on the stamens, or I would have turned the flower to get more movement in it. Maybe even turned the camera to get the photo more on the diagonal too. That you won't get it all sharp that way (without stacking that is), doesn't bother me. It just makes for a livelier picture of the total flower.
Just my opinion.

I agree with Terry - use several smaller capacity cards - it's all about not putting your eggs in one basket

Barrie, I used the Rainsleeve on my Ds a lot. It was a bit fiddly at first, but I soon got used to it and found it very effective. They are so cheap too, that it isn't a disaster when they get damaged. I still have a couple, but I haven't tried them with the K20D yet.

Amin, dry of the lens thoroughly and if you have some of those little desiccating sachets that come with lenses and other things put a couple of those with the lens in your bag or wherever to help dry it out properly. I always have a couple in my camera bag.

Amin - I loved Tanzania! I was so impressed with everyone there. Their ability to live in harmony irrespective of race or religion, and their desire to learn and improve themselves was truly an eye opener. So often you get this depressing view of Africa, not only of starvation but also of corruption and a sort of in built stagnation. Yes the starvation and the corruption are still there, as they are elsewhere in the world, but I have never come across people so determined to improve their lot!
We spent a long time talking Maasai, most of whom could speak not only their own language and Swahili, but also English and often French too. Most of them had been away to school, some to university, and then they returned to their life. Not because they didn't know any better, or couldn't do anything else, but because it was right for them. I loved sitting talking to them about their outlook on life. It really made me think.
And yes Africa is addictive. It steals a little bit of your heart without you noticing. I just wish I could go back more often. We'll probably go back to Tanzania again next year, but that's not set in stone.

Thanks for the link.

Polchraine - that was partly my point too - I found 300 too short for some shots, but it would also be too long for many.

Amin - or get a Bigma - the 50-500mm is what I have for my next trip.

If you don't mind missing some shots, or doing some serious cropping you have a pretty good safari lens already in the 55-300 of course.

I would love the 300mm but I know I wouldn't get the use out of it. Luckily my LBA is only very mild

Peter I don't understand why you are having a problem. All I did with Ken's photo was copy the URL he posted between the image tags, and it cam up fine.
I shall stick to Photobucket for hotlinking, and Jalbum for my personal website photos for family and friends to see and comment on.
I shan't be using the gallery at all, photos get lost in the sheer volume posted there. I have given up visiting it.

What you have to realise is that the animals are very often right next to your vehicle, and in that case a 300 would be fine for a close up of a cheetah's eye but not so great for the whole animal. I looked back through my photos and trust me, very few needed 300mm, and as I said if they did they actually needed more. Plus 300mm is way to long to capture a herd of gnu or elephant or the landscape. I did say it depends on where in Africa he is going.
The ideal solution of course would be the 300mm with maybe a 1.4TC on one body and a good wide to mid zoom on another body. But if you only have one body there is often no time to change lenses, and as it is so dusty it is not desirable to do so.

Slightly off topic,
Amin you may find a 300mm prime more of a hindrance than a help in Africa. Depending on where you are going you can get surprisingly close to the animals or are so far away that 30mm is not enough. You will not have time, nor is it desirable given the dust, to change lenses if something is too close for your 300mm lens.
Looking back at my trip to Tanzania I actually took very few photos at 300mm, and those I did would have benefited from a longer lens (leopards in trees, a gnu giving birth and a rhino at some huge distance from us). Most were taken around the 150-200mm mark some even wider. I had a Tamrom 20-300 on my Ds for the trip. It never left the camera, although I did take a wider lens too. It was just too dusty to be changing lenses. Not having a second body a zoom is the way to go.
That is why I got the Bigma. I am hoping to go back to Africa next year when I am sure the Bigma will come into it's own.

None here

Completely off topic Snow? what snow?