We once stayed in the B&B just at the bottom of the falls and our lounge overlooked the scene you show. Very nice to hear the water and be able to take in that view with a cold glass of white wine....

I like your composition and colour but agree that it's too bright, especially top right. That part can be burned in but the overall exposure needs to be reduced.

The simple answer is to use manual exposure and just increse the shutter speed until you get the result you want. I can't envisage any circumstance in the UK where a correct exposure could not be obtained at 100 or 200 ISO.At ISO 200 it should be 1/250 sec at f16 for this shot, give or take, and making that 1/500 sec instead would have darkened things considerably.

Nice arrangement though.

All Pentax lenses will fit the digital SLRs, very early ones with some limitations.

If it is an AF lens there will be no problem.

If it has been out of use for a while you should first check the batteries. New batteries may be all you need.

However, wedding shoots should definitely not be undertaken with any equipment that you are not totally familar with and can operate in your sleep....

Hope that helps!

It's an interesting style, not perfect by any means, but showing great promise. It must have something otherwise it wouldn't end up as a discussion subject....

EPZ is a bit slow at the moment, but I'm hoping it will speed up when all the changes have settled down.

In that respect forums like this are excellent because we can at least discuss things over a fairly short time span. In this way some interesting poiints get raised. I agree that "appalling" is an imprecise term, and probably quite unhelpful.

It's good to see that an open mind is kept regarding images. Talking of over-exposed images with totally off beat colour (were we?) have a look at EPZ user Princess Becca. I find the images, although probably technically "wrong" have quite an appealing sense of style. I'd be interested to have your opinion.

No, it was just an example to show that there are benchmarks (plural) of quality and it is something that can be absolutely perveived. Otherwise there would be no measure of quality and nobody would be able to judge anything.

Personally, I agree with you and I dislike over-enhanced model shots. I do improve the model's skin textures sometimes, but only to remove the major spots and other blemishes that real girls have. My pictures of Maxine on EPZ though have virtually no smoothing or work at all, it wasn't needed and there's no point changing things for the sake of an unrealistic ideal.

There are other benchmarks that we could consider, and I'm sure we'll all recognise a great landscape or a wonderful record shot of a majestic church interior. Although one of the "greatest" landscapes of all time, "Moonrise" by Ansel Adams actually leaves me cold. I think he's done much better than that.

That would be a neat trick. I actually judge competitions at camera clubs, and its a very tricky thing to balance.

What I do is to critique, poiting out what I like in an image but also offering suggestions for improvement where i think it would help. It's very important not to be discouraging as an image presented in this way, or indeed posted on this forum, is something that the photographer wants to share and is proud to offer for us to see.

However, there are some absolutes in terms of technique and quality and you can understand this if you compare perhaps the best gloosy magazine fashion shots with the portraits on the forum. Can you see the difference? It isn't just a matter of opinion and nothing else.

This does not mean to say that if I don't like your composition though, for example, that its wrong. It might be unconventional. It maight be inspired and I just can't relate to it. But generally adhering to some "rules" will get a better result, and when the "rules" are understood, and the reason behind them, then is the time to break them armed with the knowledge and skill you have gained.

A nice relaxed model, but very overwhelmed by the green backgrounds that compete for attention, as do the huge swathes of white.

The images are not sharp anywhere either.

You obviously have a good rapport with the girl, so why not try again against a more neutral backdrop and with close attention to focusing on the eyes.

And welcome to the forum, hope to have more input from you soon!

I have tried this, albeit many years ago, and I was very disppointed in the low contrast, unexciting results. If the metallic finish is the same colour as the image tones, won't that just make it very dark and drab?

I would certainly try it and see, but I have my doubts that the result will be what you expect.

Don't forget to let us know what actually happens...

The tones are very nice and the composition of the image is excellent. The text does tend to merge somewhat.

I think it's highly commercial and would suit a poster advertising your services or maybe a book cover. As an image for Mum and Dad, it's not something we see much of in the UK and harks back to the "babies chasing bubbles" pictures of the 1950s and 1960s - not sure that it would be the one that sold.

Admittedly not my sort of style, but highly competent and I keep enjoying the superb colour.