Thanks for the advice folks - I shall have to play some more I think. The vortex is created by a cheap milk-shake mixer which is effectively a half pint plastic 'glass' with a spinner in the bottom... I'll have a go with getting the flash off the camera and trying some coloured papers and different WB settings. Anything which requires investment in kit (even very 'economically advantageous' kit) will have to wait as I have sworn off procurement for a month as I spent too much at Christmas...

Cheers

Mat

I agree with the points on the Gorillapod. I have the 'SLR Zoom' version I think and it is great for portability/travel, and solid enough when I have a limited prime on the camera. Not so good however (as you would expect) with a heavier lens - DA* 16-50 for example tends to gradually cause the thing to sag...

Mat

Simply stunning pictures. I think this is the same guy featured in the latest Pentax User magazine with an interview.

Mat

Hello all,

Being cold outside I am having to play indoors and tonight have been trying to take pictures of a vortex in a column of water, one of my results is here:




It's good fun and is providing some (imo) interesting images, but I am a complete luddite when it comes to lighting. For this picture I used a flash in the hot-shoe on the camera and I like the vortex but cannot avoid getting the shadow of the glass in the background (lower quarter of the background) - I guess the solution might be simply to have the background further away (although I have limited space in my 'studio' (kitchen)) or I guess I could do something more involved with lights, or off-camera flash (light from the side?) etc. to eliminate the background shadow(?) -grateful if anyone can offer me advice. If this is very noddy then please excuse me, but I would be keen to understand better how to light subjects and figure this forum must be a good place to start

Regards

Mat

I echo all the above - great subject, great entries, great judging and worthy winners! Well done all round

Cheers

Mat

I use a magnifying eyecup on my K7 and I find it is easier to focus with than the 'standard' viewfinder. Have not tried a split focus screen as far as I know My first SLR camera ever was a Praktica BMS which had a strange viewfinder with some concentric rings and parallel bars in it which all lined up properly when the object under view was in focus - I dug it out the other day and had a bit of a play but think I prefer the standard viewfinder with magnifying eyecup on my pentax. The only drawback is that I find I have to look around a little to see what is in the corners of the field of view, but then I also wear glasses and maybe my eyeball is stood off from the eyecup a little too far. It's not a significant issue for me though.

Regards

Mat

I looked in my magical nature book and came to the same conclusion but wasn't 100% sure...

Mat

PS 'Magical Nature Book' is Paul Sterry's 'British Wildlife'

That's pretty impressive for hand-held. And a nice shot as well... I have used the HDR function on my K-7 but never quite got results like that without using a tripod. Mind you I have a Gorillapod and it's small enough to fit into my bag without taking up too much space or weight so I think i'm going to be taking it around with me a lot more than my regular (big) tripod - so will be trying out more HDR this year I think...

Mat

Nice set. I really like the lonely horse - great angle; and I like the Harbour Wall Meeting. The B/W and graininess gives it a good atmosphere. The Boscastle sunset is fantastic as well although I find myself wishing there was a little more land to the right of the frame (probably just me).

It's a lovely part of the country - I remember slipping and sliding my way along the coast path myself from Tintangel to Boscastle a couple of years ago

Regards

Mat

Good capture! I am torn... I actually like the original full frame picture; maybe because the point of focus is just right, the blurring each side draws attention to the Robin. On that basis I think the first crop works similarly.

Regards

Mat