It's actually quite easy to give the right advice, but which for those less computer-savvy can be the wrong advice.

It may be that Norton will serve Lilly and many others very well. Maybe it will slow the computer a bit, but maybe not enought to be a problem.

Likewise, the expert experience of Norton might well be out of date because it will have probably been avoided for some time. It could have changed and be less of a problem now than it was.

All the PCs I work on have Norton or McAffee on them and they all fly like the wind...

Hmm, apparently 17% of people use grewt4354325432, which is definitely some thing new to me!

I use AF most of the time, centre spot only. For macro and tripod work in general I use MF virtually all the time.

I was just trying out the software. Given that all the images were identical what has the software done to create that ghosting effect, and why? And why have some figures disappeared?

I'm not actually sure that HDR adds much to many images, although it can be very effective when the subject matter suits.

Church interiors and architecture with stormy skies seem to fare pretty well though.

We've just purchased Photomatix so here's the first attempt. All comments and advice will be most welcome!

The original:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/036-Gawsworth-Original.jpg[/IMG]

The HDR version:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/035-Gawsworth-HDR.jpg[/IMG]

The f1.7 lens has a flatter field and is more suitable for close up work, especially when combined with other close-up devices.

The f1.4 is pretty much the same stopped down but has slightly different image characteristics and is more suited to reportage and other low light or available light situations.

I would happily use either, and indeed I do happily use either.

Norton is very difficult to remove entirely.

I've tried Norton, McAffee, AVG and all have worked OK without any particular issues, but they must work for someone or they would be out of business by now!

There's a general thread, started by Chirpy this time, that is not specific to one image. The winner does appear over that once the competition has been judged.

That sounds fine. It keeps the competition in mind for the forum users and doesn't clutter up what the judge is looking at until the judging is done.

We'll settle down to something logical as it goes along.

There's a thread in the Gallery as well, so maybe once we're use tyo the new system that's the best place for this discussion after all?

Maybe the muck gets Shifted about by the action of the mirror and the movement of the shutter curtains?