Thanks for this - this addresses one of my concerns, that the tours are a little bit 'churn it out', especially for an operator who essentially subcontracts the tutoring.

I've slept on it and I'm inclined towards seeking out a smaller company with a more personal link to the tutoring - your post has given more food for thought.

Phil's workshops look exactly the sort of thing I'd prefer, but sadly at wrong end of the country!

Flights are of course an option, will investigate.

(Would this thread have been better placed in the general photography forum? Sorry John!)

Hi all

The missus has booked herself, her mother and her sister for a trip to New York over next Easter, and in her haste and excitement has obviously forgotten to invite me along. Unfortunately, hotels are now fully booked. At least according to my wife.

Noting that she's maxed the credit card on this trip, she's kindly granted me the very rare luxury of a photo trip to take away my disappointment . Something like Light and Land, who are offering a trip to Arran over Easter which looks very interesting. It's a lot more than I'd think to spend on such an outing - £1k for what is essentially 2 nights and 3 days - but I'm generally a tight sod so anything beyond bus fare seems pricey to me, and this opportunity won't come around too often.

Suggestions for reputable operators - ideally offering trips over Easter in Scotland - would be much appreciated. I'd prefer not to go too far due to time and budget implication. I've got my head around a £1k budget, I've no idea what a sensible budget for this sort of activity would generally be but this would represent my upper limit.

I recognise that my technique could really do with an expert eye, so the trip is an excellent opportunity to raise my skill levels and really get stuck in without discomforting the missus - she usually very kindly indulges me when we're out and about, but even she has her limits. Therefore, I'm not really looking for a guided tour of the sights, but a specific, photo-focused tour with good (and patient - god, they'll need to be patient!) instructors.

As above, all advice gratefully received

Hi all

We moved to Scotland about a year ago, but rent our house out in the south west where I've stored a load of photo kit up in the loft.

I'm an inveterate hoarder so haven't really sold much of my unused kit (There are MXs, a full darkroom and a battered 645 in there!), but having noticed that I'm not really missing the stuff I left behind - and that camera technology is continually pushing on - I was wondering if the time might not be right to sell some on.

This would also have the pleasing outcome that someone else can get good use of the kit before it becomes completely obsolete.

I had thought I'd keep the equipment as spares in case of damage to my main equipment, but as it's 400+ miles away it doesn't really make great sense when I could pop onto here or online retailers and pick up a spare if required. (I didn't really think it through when we were moving!)

What would help my decision is some thoughts on likely guide prices, as I'd be keen to figure out how much I have 'invested' in boxes in a loft in England before making a specific trip to reclaim it all. Is the general approach to pricing on the forum to look at ebay, or one of the on-line retailers' second-hand prices and discount?

As an aside, does anyone else have a debilitating inability to get rid of their old stuff? It's never served me well, as I thought I'd keep stuff for contingency but can never find it again/forgot I'd actually owned it when the time came. I found a spare expansion tank and set of bumper mounting brackets for a Golf Gti in my garage, a car I sold 10 years ago.

I'll admit to not being that patient with most matters computing, but hoping novelty factor might get me over the hump!

Did you find the controllers gave decent fine control? I'm concerned that I might end up bouncing around between too much and too little - I find this can be a problem with some controls on lightroom through the UI, which can lead to both loud cursing and a loss of train of thought.

I'm also after a decent lightroom training course, as I'm not getting the most out of it - I've not managed to find a convenient one local to me (Edinburgh) but I'd be interested in seeing if they have a controller to try out when I eventually sign up to one.

Hi all

Comfortably my least favoured - and least competently undertaken - photography task is photo editing, partly as I find sitting in front of a computer a bit too reminiscent of my day job and partly as I'm hopeless with lightroom.

I'm tempted by a loupedeck, which for those who haven't seen it is a keyboard-like console which has the majority of functions for lightroom controlled by dedicated dials, sliders etc.

I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences with it, as I'm not convinced it's not a bit to faddy (and I know it's not going to improve my fundamental lack of skill in editing) but it might actually prove quite intuitive and enjoyable to use.

link

I'll need to upgrade lightroom from version 5 to 6, if I understand the technical requirements correctly, but suspect this was due anyway.

Also, I note there's a sigma 1.4 APO EX TC up for sale here, both my 300mm APO and the 70-200 referenced here are not officially listed as supported on the Sigma site, does anyone know if they might be compatible?

Weather's put a bit of a dampener (well, more of a chiller) on my outings so I've not yet used the lens in anger, but a quick tests shows the AF is a lot snappier than my 300mm and the sharpness appears good at most points.

As an aside, it has the exact same filter size and tripod mount as my 300mm APO, which could prove handy for when I inevitably drop/lose/break these bits and pieces.

I've only had fleeting use of them so can't be entirely certain, but that looks a bit like a Nikon F-Mount?

As stated by others above, it's sadly not a Pentax fit, I'm afraid.

An example of an F-Mount Nikon lens
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