I showed this to an artist friend today. He thought it doesn't need anything else in it, it's very good as it is.

Steve

Lovely.

Reminds me of Monet (if he hadn't discovered water lilies...).

Steve

Thanks for your comments, folks. I'd like to say that I'm chasing light again to develop the idea further, but patches of light and shadow have vanished in the face of grey, autumnal murk. Still hoping, though!
Yes, they do seem to work well together for most things . Add a macro for little things, a 300mm for distant things and a fast prime for when the light is poor and you've got a kit for life. All the rest is LBA (he says as he dives for cover...)

Steve

Depends whether you prefer questions or answers.

It works well for me as it is, because it asks questions - Why is nobody there? Who was there a few minutes ago? Who is approaching out of sight of the camera? What are the dark shapes in the background? Is it safe to walk along the path?

Adding a child in a bright coloured coat or a couple walking romantically would provide an answer. Reassuring and safe rather than disturbing and dangerous. Still a valid picture, but a very different one. No right, no wrong, just different.

Keep taking 'em like this, I like questions!

Steve

... That's life, that's life ...

Steve

At f/9.0 and ISO 80, any 270mm lens, no matter how 'good', would need the same 1/4 sec exposure for that shot so you'd still need a tripod. Isn't ISO 200, 400 or even 800 OK with your K5iis (can't speak from experience, I jumped from K20D to K3)? And then there's SR. And if you need more stability, try using a handy tree, post, fence (etc.) for support. I've even used a child's shoulder to get a longish exposure!

Steve

I'm yet another satisfied DA*300 user whose SDM motor hasn't failed. If it does fail, there's always the option of converting it to screw drive (which is what I would probably do). It must be possible because someone on this forum (carmagw) reported back in January this year that they had done the conversion to compare focus speeds even though the SDM motor hadn't failed. And I know that screw drive works OK because that's how my *ist (film version) drives the lens.

Personally, I tend to prefer new lenses to second-hand ones. Unless you're very sure about the seller, even usually reliable innards might have been mucked up, perhaps unknowingly, and there is no come back if the lens fails after a few months. And as LennyBloke says, older lenses can fail, too - SDM isn't the only thing that can go wrong.

Steve

Another impressive macro. Would anyone have known what it is if you hadn't said???

I wonder whether the highlight on the lower part is a bit too bright. Would cropping just above the highlight work better?

Steve

Couldn't agree more. I found myself looking at the backgrounds more than the foreground subjects. In fact, the backgrounds of Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 might stand on their own as abstracts. (And for those who like their macros sharp from front to back, I should add that I think there's a place for both types.)

My favourite is No. 3. There's something about the shapes and colours of the petals of the fuschia and the out of focus leaves (fern fronds?) that seem to go well together . A bit more space under the flowers would have been useful, but the voice of experience inside me says that it's often not possible .

Steve

I'd never have thought it before seeing these pictures, but grey and murk seems to suit windsurfing! The colours of the sails and boards stand out well and the hazardous nature of the sport is emphasized - human against the unforgiving wind and sea.

Top of the list for me are:
- No. 2, for overall composition and the smallness of the wind surfers against the vastness of the sea and sky.
- No. 6, for the Needles, breaking wave and wind surfer complementing each other so well.
The action shots are impressive, but for me they don't have the same 'emotional' impact as the others - apart from amazement that anyone would do such a crazy thing!

Steve