I rather like this (although on balance I think I agree with the comments about brightening he lighthouse a little). HDR can often look 'overblown' - indeed that can suit certain subjects - but I think you have 'pitched' it about right for this pic and I find it a very striking image. Nice one.

Regards

Some beautiful shots there Mike, and a great subject to see! I am impressed with the sharpness of the 55-300 here (and elsewhere on this site) - am tempted to try and get hold of one for myself. I love the DOF in number 3, and the poses in the last (lying down and gurning). Nice work!

Regards

Hello all. This weekend I was taken by some of the pond-side blooms which have flowered now. They are very beautiful although in a break from the norm I thought I would try some mono versions. I am not sure what these are but I think they are irises of various varieties...

1



2



3



4



5



6



7



8



I hope you like them. Of course many may think it is sacrilege to remove the colour from these wonderful plants - there are colour versions on my flickr, and I expect I shall post one or two on here as well. As ever, any C&C appreciated. All were taken with my K-7 and sigma 180mm. Some with all natural light and some with a little off-camera flash.

Regards

Nice shots. The ducklings are cute, and well taken, but I think my fave is the bunny at the end (with his chum in the background). He looks a little nervous...

your Sigma must have the shortest zoom range of any lens I've seen

Regards

I agree - great set. It looks as if you've really caught the atmosphere of the place. i really like the bigfoot pic (number 9) and the bloke in number 16 has a unique look - wonder how that would look in B/W with kinda high contrast...? top stuff

Regards

Great set! really accomplished to my mind. I particularly like the first three and that first shot of the crab spider in particular. very cool indeed!

Regards

I second that (fatspider's post). The DA* 300mm is a great lens and focusses fairly close (for a 300mm) at just under 1.5m closest focus I think; and it gives some undoubtedly splendid results when used to take pics of butterflies/hoverflies etc. However it does come at a price.

As an alternative, there are both sigma and Tamron 70-300mm zooms which also have something akin to a macro function (closest focus about a metre I think) and actually work rather well for a lot less money. I think each are available in Pentax fit brand new for under £130 on amazon - might be worth a look: I have an earlier incarnation of the sigma 70-300 and for the money I think it is great value, and smaller and lighter than a DA*300

Regards

These pics are all so WOW! absolutely stunning. You SO have a better view from your office than I do from mine

Regards

I use a Lowepro Primus AW, which has two sections and should meet your needs depending on the size of the lenses. A link to the bag on the Lowepro website is here:

link

I often manage pack tons of stuff in mine and it is still comfy to wear, although on a hot day it can lead to a sweaty back (as I guess any pack can). Definitely worth a look I reckon.

Regards

Nice shot! I love the contrast of yellow and blue. Good depth of focus too. Great stuff all round

Regards