Very good, very artistic, very seasonal. And B&W suits it very well. .

How did you get permission to do all that on the kitchen table during daylight hours???

Steve

Have a look at the Giggster website link. What a production renter is should be obvious.

Now look at the bottom right of the Giggster home page. In small print there is a column headed Guides. Click on Photography. Once you've got over your amazment that 22 light leaks and 220 bokeh overlays are being given away free, look at the links just below the page heading - Retouching; Photography; Tools; Basics; Gear. Click on Gear. Along with 'How to clean a camera lens' and 'Prime vs Zoom lens for photography' there are a couple of camera comparisons: 'Canon EOS R vs RP' and 'Nikon Z7 vs Canon EOS R'.

It seems to me that ePHOTOzine and Pentax User dangle somewhere from the lower levels of that bottom right hand corner of the home page. Not exactly core to the business. However, if people really do hire venues for photo shoots and don't have a photographer (maybe themselves) who knows their stuff** then perhaps this is a potential growth area. And perhaps there will one day be a fair and unbiassed comparison between Pentax and other systems on the Gear page.

** And let's not forget that everyone has to start somewhere. If someone has got brilliant creative ideas but doesn't know how to use a camera to good effect, then giving them a helping hand might well encourage them to pay hard cash by becoming a 'production renter'.

It's a different world... .

Steve

No Mow May turned into Just Leave It June then Can't Be Bothered July and Too Wet To Mow August. The grass grew longer and longer and weeds flourished, flowered and set seed (many have already sprouted...). But among the mayhem that used to be the lawns, a wonderful ecosystem of bugs and wee beasties was developing. Some of the visitors were regulars to the garden, others (including lacewings and marbled white butterflies) were previously hardly ever seen in the garden and seemed to be attracted by the long grass.

Evenings therefore became mini-safaris with various lenses and either the K3 or K3iii, depending on whether I wanted the comfort of an old friend or the tingle of excitement from playing with a new toy. It's taken a while to sort and process the results, but here are some of them. Enjoy!

Thoughts, comments etc. welcome as usual.

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Steve

Yes, I did enjoy them - particularly the last one .

If you put the KP + DA 40mm in your work bag, will it turn it into a pleasure bag? .

Steve

Ah, now it might be making making more sense. If 'histogram' means just a simple bar that shows current exposure relative to what the camera calculates to be 'correct' exposure, rather than the full histogram for an image, then it can be done. The Pentax way is an 'EV bar scale' at the bottom RH corner of the viewfinder. The middle of the bar is what the camera thinks is 'correct'. A movable mark shows current exposure. Adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO until the tick is in the middle and your exposure will be what the camera thinks is 'correct'. Of course, no camera can know whether its idea of what is correct exposure matches your own idea of what is correct - the poor thing is only a computer in disguise .

Come to think of it, I seem to remember a similar thing on the P30, my first SLR. There was a column of shutter speeds at one side of the viewfinder image, the current and 'correct' shutter speeds were illuminated, you set the aperture on the lens then adjusted shutter speed so it matched the 'correct' value. And all based on just a simple centre-weighted exposure value if I remember rightly. Nothing fancy in those days!

Steve

In a word, no. That's because the elements that appear in the viewfinder are provided by an overlaid transparent LCD layer with pre-formed elements (for focus points etc.) that are illuminated as and when needed.

A histogram is only available in liveview which, of course, uses the back display with its lots of dots each of which can display whatever colour it's instructed by the camera's software in order to form the desired display (image on the sensor, histogram, superman flying to the rescue - no, hold on, scrap that last one, it's not in the manual ).

Steve

It appears that others have had what seems like similar problems. This (link) might or might not help. Good luck.

Steve

Never trust your feelings - you really were inspired or you wouldn't have taken the photo of the fern.

Interesting interpretation? Yes. Ferns sort of invite different interpretations by presenting you with interesting shapes and patterns but a fairly plain colour pallete. They seem to say "Here you are, now what you can do with me?".

Great picture? Hmmm... Could do better with composition IMHO. Hard to say how without seeing what else the plant was offering. I'd have tried putting the main stem on a diagonal, or getting closer (the 'less is more' approach).

Waste of time? Definitely not. It inspired you to experiment and that's a good use of time.

Looks radioactive? Have those people ever seen something that's radioactive?? I have - and I don't mean certain camera lenses. Radioactivity doesn't make things glow green . I think they really meant fluorescent. And that's an entirely different thing. You can therefore safely ignore their negative comments .

Keep getting inspired by the undergrowth!

Steve

Does that mean we'll be seeing lots more of your superb macro photographs? Please, please !!!

Steve

Yes!!! And the more you do it, the more you'll notice the rich variety and photographic opportunities in the familiar. And then when you think you've seen it all, something will change - even just the light, weather or season - and you'll see a whole lot of new potential for photographs. Been there, done it, still doing it...

One final thought, something that has worked for me. Take one lens with you, photograph what you see. Next time you go to the same place, take a different lens and photograph what you see with that one. And if you've taken a zoom, stick to either the long or short end. Just an idea .

Steve