Vic,
ePhotozine are there (from what I've heard it's a very busy & popular stand ). http://www.focus-on-imaging.co.uk/exhibitors.htm#E

I've not made it to Focus yet...
Matt

I'm the ugly one
Matt

I have hacked the front slots off a P filter and filed out the inside rim of the holder... and it's not too bad.

But then I bought the Lee Foundation kit and Cokin Z-Pro ND grads
Speedgraphic had deals on three ND grads which made it within reach - but it's still expensive

Matt

Just repeating the comment I made in a PM:
Some newer machines have HDD controllers that are not recognised by the XP installation CD!
In these cases, Vista installs fine, but XP complains about the HDD being unable to format (or some such message).
The work around is to get hold of the XP device driver, and at the beginning of the XP installation CD manually load the SCSI/HDD driver. Then you should be able to delete the partition within the XP installation process (make sure you say you want to install a NEW installation of XP, not to repair an existing Windows).

That was the problem Terry had
Matt

Like Tel, I shoot RAW, process to AdobeRGB and do all my editing in AdobeRGB. Only when saving for web do I convert to sRGB
Matt

The focus drive is driven by a pin - when you switch to Manual, the pin is pulled back into the body. When you switch to Auto, the pin is pushed out of the body. Occasionally, the pin won't lock immediately, but will click back in when the focus is engaged.

(The lens side is spring loaded)

It's easier to see what happens if you take the lens off the body

Is that the click you mean?
Matt

Ha! Can't click three times...
I've clicked for my wife (uses Pentax *ist-DS + 16-45), but there's me (of course), and my second son (who gets great results from my old *ist-D + 18-55)!

So I've gone and skewed the results somewhat
(Either that or I was having a temporary gender issue! )
Matt

Thanks Terry (blushing)
LOL @ Hyram

Although not online, I find that ProAM Imaging prints are top notch every time. The 18"x12" prints are just lovely
Can't beat their prices

(Mind you, you do have to prepare everything yourself - and that requires some knowledge of colour management and full Photoshop, unless you like messing around with command-line tools!)
Matt

Hi Mhuni,
Yes, layers is definitely one way to go
Here's a pretty quick and good tutorial - http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Exposure-blending-with-David-Clapp-10929

I've done this occasionally, but also used the following other methods:
1) Use Artizen HDR (for "proper" HDR with multiple RAW files at different exposures)

2) Process in RAW but reducing the contrast and adjusting gamma to squeeze everything into a very "flat" image that has everything, but then output to 16-bit TIFF. Then use adjustment layers in Photoshop to correct tone and contrast for each region. This method has the advantage of only working on a single layer (and there are tricks that can be used!)

But... try the multiple-image-output-from-RAW-with-layers method first

Matt