Have you adjusted the drive mode at all? I notice that whenever I switch to shooting with a remote control, the shake reduction is disabled (presumably on the premise that the camera will be attached to a tripod...) - similarly when the camera is in self-timer mode, the SR is disabled (presumably for the same reason). Not sure if that helps - am sure others will understand the K-7 menus better than I do (yet)...

Regards

Mat

Nice one! I had a similar idea and snapped this not long after getting up this morning... from my garden although I suspect the weather's not quite in the same league as in Jackitec's . I like the way everything is starting to change colour as Autumn sets in. This was taken with my sigma 70-300mm lens at 240mm (macro), ISO400, f18, 1/180th shutter speed, and I used the new flashgun I am experimenting with...




Regards

Mat W

I'm in a similar position and shortly shooting my girlfriend's sister's wedding. I have been looking at other wedding albums as suggested, and been picking up tips from the web and magazines etc.

The happy couple want a mix of formal pictures and more candid shots so I've agreed a list of 'essential' shots which the bride and groom want and have drawn up a checklist (including lists of who is to be in each shot) to surreptitiously tick off during the day; i've been doing 'dry runs' of sorts to see which lenses will work best for different situations (group shots, portraits etc.); and I have enlisted a 'helper' for the day as well.

Last thing I need to do is scout the venue, make a couple of plans for different weather, and make sure I have plenty of charged batteries for the camera and the flashes etc. (I currently have a back-up camera as well)...

Then I can just watch the whole thing collapse around my ears on the day...

Regards

Mat W

I regularly (like gartmore above) go out with just the DA 40mm on my camera. I love the fact that it is as flat as pancake as it normally enables me to squeeze the camera into a titchy backpack which is normally filled with all sorts of other stuff! I have a couple of other primes and I try sometimes to consciously head out with just the one of them, although it's hard sometimes I sometimes think it would be easier if I had less kit to choose from, but I think I'm developing into a bit of a lens-aholic (! if that is a word...)

The only other camera appendage I generally take with me is a circular polariser...

Regards

Mat W

Those are great pics!! Well done. It's hard to say which i like the best - I really like the focussed heads/bodies but blurred wings on the first three, whereas the last one almost looks as if the three gulls are dancing somehow.

Best Regards

Mat

(PS I 'third' the plea for a pointer to the tips)

Here's mine (first time I've entered a fortnightly competition:

Pomodoro from the Garden:




Half are ripe - Half not, and the orange one in the middle (I guess) is half and half...

Taken yesterday (3rd October) -Pentax K-7 with DA 40mm ltd lens; f8 and 1/30th second; ISO 400.

Cheers all

Mat W

I have to agree with the above - it's a great shot. For some reason I wonder what the fourth head is looking at, different to the other three...

I've had a tinker with a couple of the shots - although at the end of a long day at work my eyes are decidedly bleary ... The final picture above is a bit of a crop - there was a little more foreground in as I was standing nearside of the moat, and there was a tree on the right hand side (where the wooden bridge is disappearing out of the frame) which didn't seem to be helping much. That said the picture above is still 75-80% of the full frame as shot. Really struggling with a B&W version of the first - needs more work I think... (I'll probably end up tinkering all evening!

here goes:
















Regards

Mat

Tim, Peter,

Many thanks for the comments - I agree with you both that the light was not ideal for some of the shots. I'll have a tinker on PSE with a couple of them and re-post (when I get home from work later) - see if I can pep them up a bit

Regards

Mat W

I was recently in north Wales and got the chance to have a look at some of the fantastic castles they have there. I thought I would post some pictures here. Overall I think I have failed to do them justice, but I'd be interested to know what anyone else thinks... As often seems to be the case at the moment I was using the Sigma 10-20mm lens on Pentax K-7

This is Conwy castle




...and trying to get an inetresting angle this is taken up one of the (roofless) towers




Here is Caernarfon Castle viewed through it's own battlements




...and the view from the top of its tower back towards Snowdonia




Finally Beaumaris castle in Anglesey:




Regards

Mat